New bill in Iraq puts women’s rights at risk

The bill under discussion would allow citizens to choose either religious authorities or the civil judiciary to decide family matters.

Critics fear that this will lead to a reduction of rights in matters such as inheritance, divorce and child care, and that it could severely affect the rights of women and girls. Among other things, there is fear that the number of child brides will increase, writes the AFP news agency.

Middle East expert Rania Maktabi at Østfold University College believes that if the bill is passed, it is serious for the entire Iraqi society.

– If the civil law institutions are weakened, for example civil courts, it will mean less democracy. Instead of relying on democratic institutions, such as parliament or civil judges, it will be up to various religious scholars to decide family law depending on religious affiliation, she tells NTB.

Increases the division in the population

She says that roughly half of Iraq’s population are Shia Muslims, and the rest Sunni Muslims and other Christian minorities.

– Changing the family law splits the population in an even more sectarian direction. Family law has with it the structure of society as a whole, democratic structure such as standardized legislation and principles of the rule of law and equality before the law. Changes to family law mean that different laws regulate Iraq’s different religious groups. how society thinks. It is very serious if this bill is passed, says Maktabi.

She emphasizes that Iraq was one of the countries in the Middle East that was among the first to sign the UN Convention on Women (in 1986) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (in 1994).

– Iraq thus got rid of an authoritarian regime with the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, but is now perhaps moving in a less democratic direction in areas such as family law if changes to family law are adopted, she says.

Maktabi emphasizes that such bills have been in the National Assembly since the US-led invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein, but that they have not been adopted.

The bill may pass

– Much of the reason why they have not been adopted before is that Iraq is a deeply divided country – between the Kurdish-dominated northern Iraq, the central Baghdad region and southern Iraq where Shia groups dominate, she says. But Maktabi fears that there is a greater chance that the bill on family law will pass now than in the past.

At the end of July, the National Assembly withdrew the corresponding, proposed changes as there was no majority for the changes. But a new bill resurfaced in an Aug. 4 session after gaining support from powerful Shiite blocs that dominate the assembly.

Maktabi says there is a horse-trading going on between political forces on the Sunni and Shiite sides.

– Sunni Muslim leaders want amnesty for Sunni Muslim IS fighters – the amnesty is proposed in exchange for religious scholars being given greater authority over family legislation, this applies to both Sunni and Shia Muslim leaders. So I fear that the possibility of getting the proposal through is greater now, she says.

HRW and Amnesty concerned

The human rights organizations Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International are, according to AFP, also deeply concerned and are asking that the bill be stopped.

– If this bill goes through, it will give a lot of room for male dominance in family matters – and that in a society that is already deeply conservative, says HRW researcher Sarah Sanbar.

– Iraq will be a country that goes backwards, not forwards, says Sanbar to NTB.

– By giving power over marriage to religious authorities, you will undermine the principle of equality before the law, emphasizes Sanbar.

HRW warned earlier this year that religious leaders in Iraq already conduct thousands of unregistered marriages each year, including child marriages, in violation of current law.

Stealing girls’ futures

New legislation could legalize the marriage of girls as young as nine, which HRW believes will steal the future and well-being of countless girls.

– Girls belong on the playground and at school, not in a wedding dress, emphasizes Sanbar.

Amnesty International’s Iraq researcher Razaw Salihy says the proposed changes must be stopped.

– Regardless of how it is presented, by adopting these changes, Iraq will create a “ring of fire around women and children”, she believes.

Male dominance

Amal Kabashi, from the women’s organization Iraq Women’s Network, says that the proposal for the change will leave enormous room for male dominance over family matters – in an already conservative society.

Issues of marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance are at stake.

In particular, the critics worry that, in practice, the minimum age for Muslim girls to marry will be removed. Today, one must be 18 years old, according to legislation from 1959, when the hand of religious authorities over family law was transferred to the state.

Activists have demonstrated against the proposed changes and have vowed to continue the protests.

– We have fought them before, and we will continue to do so, says Kabashi.

Rejects the criticism

Member of the National Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, Raed al-Maliki, who has promoted the change in the law, denies that the new changes allow marriage with minors, believes that the objections to the bill come from an “evil agenda”.

– It comes from people who want to deny a significant part of the Iraqi population the right to determine their personal status based on their beliefs, he stated in a recent TV interview.

However, Salihy from Amnesty believes that anchoring religious freedom in a law with “vague and undefined language” will deprive women and girls of their rights and security.

Earlier this year, Raed al-Maliki supported a bill that went against the rights of LGBTQ people.