Summary
Proposed amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law could allow girls as young as 9 to marry, sparking outrage from rights groups and survivors like “Batta,” who endured abuse after being forced into marriage at 11.
The changes would shift decision-making power to clerics, undermining existing protections for women and children established in 1959.
Supporters claim the amendments promote family values, but critics call them a violation of children’s rights and a step toward legalized child abuse.
Activists and lawmakers are working to block the controversial proposal.
It would be wrong for me to mention that Muhammed married a 6-year-old when he was in his early fifties and, if recorded accounts are to be believed, started having sex with her when she was 9.