UN Condemns Iraq’s Move To Lower Legal Marriage Age For Girls

The United Nations has condemned the Iraq Parliament’s bill that aims to reduce the marriage age for girls from 18 to 9 years.

The Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Amina Mohammed, described the bill as an assault on childhood.

Mohammed warned that “Girls are not spouses“, stressing that they are children who deserve their right to grow up with protection and dignity.

In a statement, on Monday, the UN Deputy Secretary-General said, “The Iraqi Parliament’s proposal to lower the legal marriage age for girls from 18 to 9 years old is an assault on childhood.

“Girls are not spouses—they are children who deserve their right to grow up with protection and dignity.”

According to The Guardian, the bill passed its first reading last week. Women’s rights groups have been protesting the bill.

The bill, if passed, “would give religious authorities the power to decide on family affairs, including marriage, divorce and the care of children,” The Guardian reported.

Describing the bill as “a catastrophe for women“, Raya Faiq, who is the coordinator for a coalition of groups protesting the bill, told The Guardian that some members of the Iraqi Parliament joined the protest against the bill.

“My husband and my family oppose child marriage. But imagine if my daughter gets married and my daughter’s husband wants to marry off my granddaughter as a child. The new law would allow him to do so. I would not be allowed to object. This law legalizes child rape,” Faiq stated.