Iraq: Child brides Marriage and rights of women in Iraq

Map: Iraq

Overview Country Profile ● Population: 32 million ● Language(s):Arabic, Kurdish ● Religion: Islam o Shia 65%, Sunni 35%) ● Major cities: 66% live in urban areas o Baghdad, Mosul, Erbil, Masra

Overview Country Profile, contd. ● Government: officially a ‘republic’ (but actually a series of strongmen), today Iraq is an Islamic, democratic republic ● Major industries: petroleum, chemicals, textiles ● Work force: o 22% work in agriculture o 19% work in industry o 60% work in services o 16% are unemployed o 25% are below the poverty line

Issue Overview: Child brides ● Nearly 30% of all brides in Iraq are under 18 ● Brides have limited rights o Men inherit twice as much as women o Brides traditionally must live in their in-laws’ home o Women traditionally can not be in the public sphere unaccompanied

International Issue

Overview, contd. ● The proposed law states that girls reach puberty at 9 and would then be ready for marriage (and divorce). o Men as guardians, not husbands? ● Furthermore, a husband has a right to have intercourse with his bride. o Legal marital rape?

Overview, contd. Demonstration against the proposed law. The sign reads “women are not for sale or purchase.” (The Guardian)

Context of Issue ● Saddam Hussein and the U.S. Invasion ● Women in politics post-war ● Role of Islamic law ● International conflict and societal changes ● Rise of ISIS

Gender Empowerment Index

Issue’s Impact ● Raises questions about Iraq’s connection to Shari’a (Islamic law) and the power that religious leaders have in government:

Issue’s Impact ● Role of women in public affairs is low ● Young women become wives and are largely restricted to the home ● Education of women is suffering because these girls are expected to stay at home

Impact ● International critics question the proposed law for its apparent step backwards in terms of women’s rights.

Long term implications? ● Under ISIS, women’s rights generally have suffered ● Many claim women are less free in the 10+ years after the invasion of Iraq ● Child brides is an entrenched cultural tradition rooted in values that would take generations to change “Educated, professional women seem to be particularly at risk..” -United Nations report

Sources ● Girls Not Brides ● CIA World Factbook: Iraq ● Why Women are Less Free 10 years after the invasion of Iraq ● Iraq Child Marriage Bill Would Allow Girls to Wed ● Iraq’s draft child marriage law a political stunt iraq-lawmaking-idUSBREA3G18D iraq-lawmaking-idUSBREA3G18D ● Countries and their cultures