Baghdad: Anti-women law is going to be implemented in Iraq. In Iraq any man can marry a nine-year-old girl. This provision has been made in the bill presented in the Parliament of Iraq, which is likely to be approved soon. Not only this, the law is being amended to deprive women of the rights to divorce, custody of children and property.
In Iraq, religious institutions are allowed to function as courts; the amended law also mentions courts. If a citizen wishes, instead of going to the civil judiciary, he can also go to a religious authority. This relaxation has been given in cases of family disputes. The number of women may increase as part of preparations to strictly implement Sharia law in Shia-dominated Iraq. Taliban is imposing similar restrictions in Afghanistan also. Women are raising their voice against the inhumane decisions of the Iraqi government, while radicals are pressurizing the Iraqi government to pass a law reform bill. According to a UNICEF report, child marriage rates in Iraq are currently high, with approximately 28 percent of girls in the country married before the age of 18. In such a situation, the Iraqi government is now going to allow men to marry even nine-year old girls, due to which the number of child marriages may increase. Due to child marriage, the girl is forced to become a mother at an early age, she is left with physical defects, the husband is forced to do household work at an early age.