On January 21, the Iraqi Parliament adopted amendments to the Personal Status Law (PSL) of 1959.[1] This has got the women’s and human rights watchers across the world worried. Many of the Iraqi social activists, lawyers and also up in arms against these amendments; as apprehensions are now high that girls, as young as nine could be married off in Iraq, besides impacting on their rights related to marriage, divorce, alimony, etc.
The fears for women have been heightened because the amendments have now officially given a choice—a person can choose whether to follow the PSL route, or go by the traditional Sharia method. It is not that earlier ‘unregistered marriages’ were not taking place in Iraq. But an official sanction of the same threatens to undo the efforts in women’s emancipation made through the PSL 1959. The rights activists fear the following: The clerics often tell people that a girl attaining puberty can be married, and that she can attain this by the time she is nine. Hence, girls as young as nine could get married.
In other words, marriage of underage girls, which was happening even despite the law in Iraq, will increase further. This is likely to have further ramifications, not only in terms of divorce, dowry, alimony and child custody, etc., but also due to the system for short-term marriages.
Briefly: The 1959 PSL was among the most far-reaching laws related to women’s rights in the Middle East. It had clear provisions on the minimum age of marriage for women being 18. Further, it had clearly spelt out provisions of the conditions under which a marriage can be declared null and void, on divorce, on what constituted disobedience on the part of woman, on polygamy, etc., which sought to provide a semblance of equality to the women. For instance: A man could not divorce a woman by mere three utterances of the word; the terms of the marriage (that is the contract) was to be ‘clearly heard by the parties’ and “understood” by both; polygamy could not be allowed if there were concerns of justice between/ among the wives; husband must have financial self-sufficiency to marry another woman, and there should be a genuine interest.[2] There were several provisions related to alimony, etc., under which a woman was not to be treated unequally. The main law was supplemented with several minor amendments over the years.
However, the dominant religious forces ensured that marriages were carried out less through the registered marriage (or PSL route); rather, marriages were carried out in the name of Sharia, which were not registered, were also taking place. A 2021 UN report on Iraq, indicated that nearly 34 per cent of marriages in Iraq took place outside the registered marriage system and girls less than 14 years of age accounted for nearly 22 per cent of marriages.[3] There were many areas where forced marriages were common, the report said.
Factors like Iran-Iraq War, Gulf War, rise of ISIS and 2003 Iraq War also contributed to the problems of women in the Iraq. In fact, according to some assessments, it was the pressure put by the US in 2005—after the fiasco of 2003 Iraq War—that led to the insertion of the assertion that Islam was the official religion of the state and a fundamental source of legislation.[4] This was done apparently because the US, under the then President George W Bush, was under pressure to show that ‘democracy was being restored’ in Iraq. Incidentally, Saddam Hussein’s Baathist Party’s rule, which was officially secular, had been a period where women had it easy and were welcomed into the workforce. Issues like wearing a veil, for instance, had receded to the backburner.
As of now, it appears that the tussle is essentially between the political elite, which wants to hold on to religious dogma and is inspired by it, and the women, who have been trying hard to reclaim their status and space that had become a reality—to whatever degree—in pre-Gulf War Iraq. Women, who are also helped by young men, have been taking to streets for nearly half-a-dozen years now, in Iraq. And one of the methods to discredit them is to claim that they were involved in ‘immoral’ acts.[5]
Right since 2019, incidentally the first time after post-2003 Iraq War, the women had come on the streets when the elite Shia political parties sought to question the legal basis of the PSL. Since then, women have been regularly coming out against the dogmatic elite and trying to make various things as ‘ordinary.’ For instance, meeting of young men and women in public, while facing security agency’s bullets.[6]
As per reports available, it appears that the religious political elite has tried to use the back door for entry of Sharia-based doctrine, which arguably is lopsidedly in the favour of men, in order to weaken the strong resistance coming from women’s groups. The two ostensible arguments to do this are ‘morality’ and ‘reducing Western influence.’
Iraq has been an embattled place since the last two-odd decades. With the threat of ISIS being dismantled in 2017, it should have been hoped that the situation of women would have improved. However, politics-mixed-with-religion seems to be becoming an impediment.
Beyond the Immediate Politics
It goes without saying that women are the first casualty in a violent and disturbed polity. While men are supposed to be fighting umpteen wars, the women are supposed to handle the home and also ensure the burning of the hearth. While the first trauma response is to make them safe, prolonged violence leads to a situation where suppression of women becomes a norm; the society comes to treat it as something normal. And when women try to assert their space in the public, and equitability on the high chair of society’s elite, there is a strong push-back. In fact, this tendency transcends generations; something that has been the case with India, especially the north Indian hinterlands, where presence of Islamic invaders over a long period of time has altered many of the society’s ways. More so, when it comes to women.
In the Islamic world, one of the problems is that clerics seem to have much greater hold on society, and they do not deem it fit to accommodate space for reforms, irrespective of efforts either from without or within. The politics too gets to be controlled by them, more often than not. There has been an allegation and an argument that clerics go by what is said in Islam’s Holy Book. There are others who argue that the problem is in the interpretation.
Nevertheless, clerics seem to stake claim for the leadership of the Muslim community in virtually all parts of the world, India included. And there is enough evidence to suggest that they have interpreted things in favour of men, rather than women.
Whatever be the reasons, real or perceived, it is indeed a painful development where the women will have lesser and lesser control over whom they marry—and when they marry.
To recall, the 1959 PSL provided for the woman to ‘understand’ all the terms of marriage; she had certain rights in terms of dowry, alimony, polygamy, etc. Now, imagine a nine-year-old girl trying to figure those things out.
[1] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/has-iraq-lowered-minimum-age-for-muslim-girls-to-marry-to-as-young-as-nine-year-old-heres-truth/articleshow/117464750.cms?from=mdr
[2] https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/1959/en/122534
[3] https://iraq.un.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/CCA%20Iraq%202021%20final%20version%20FINAL%20w%20AR.pdf?afd_azwaf_tok=eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiJ9.eyJhdWQiOiJpcmFxLnVuLm9yZyIsImV4cCI6MTczNzYzNTUwMCwiaWF0IjoxNzM3NjM1NDkwLCJpc3MiOiJ0aWVyMS02N2NiNGI5NzliLWcya3Z0Iiwic3ViIjoiNTI0OjEwMjoxODQwOjYyYjE6ZDUzOTo1YzZiOjQ5OTY6NjA5MSIsImRhdGEiOnsidHlwZSI6Imlzc3VlZCIsInJlZiI6IjIwMjUwMTIzVDEyMzEzMFotMTY3Y2I0Yjk3OWJnMmt2dGhDMURFTDkyaGcwMDAwMDAwMTkwMDAwMDAwMDBneXhyIiwiYiI6Imx3dmtpUEhVTGhoMHBRdC01S0RJTUxyWE5zRmhRTmZpM1lqQUtuV3JnY3ciLCJoIjoiWnA2NU04UUpySjlyYVROSGZ3NHFId2RFSDVQVzhrSlZmZEk2dlBpclhoWSJ9fQ.sDrSRplw5O2SqR8VyjX6AD7uez52gsMuKmYHbn8R5Rz2l9TtHrco2r4o63eKfR4iY4xvW8-wUVj1cmlO6RcwuuUKQ1LyGs1W9N_T1fK1c-EoARhb20L6SRp5RIuSVoJOPrzl6xxXHy-E84UTC_GFqxkBhR7uCrW6wpLD1z3paEqk8UXX23ZqkopsQ7_INwT3_dbk-tF5nzIycRVBSJCqWVPvgMQmAhJ3wW_rgEK99aiW6uMJGqxTQ8-Sn7_YWnK–YqeMWh_DmajAImfg0L1kBMTxmyF1srBdPPNo4YBX6HCx630RqoZI9kshRdn7w1jW72ZuTQPTA_U_HznrRaT-g.WF3obl2IDtqgvMFRqVdYkD5s
[4] vaw_promisingdemocracyimposingtheocracy_madre_march2008_0.pdf
