On Aug. 4, Iraq’s parliament debated a draft law that would allow religious doctrine to govern people’s private affairs—especially marriages and child custody. This is a blow to women’s rights in a country that was once considered a leader when it came to gender equality, with an active women’s association and progressive laws introduced in the mid-20th century.
Iraq was the first modern Arab country to have a female judge—Sabiha AlShaikh Daood who was appointed in 1956—and first Arab country with a female government minister, Nazima al-Dulaimi, appointed in 1959. And while Iraq remained a largely religious country, civil laws were introduced to govern personal affairs— until now. With all the many challenges facing the Middle East, little attention is being paid to this threat.
On Aug. 4, Iraq’s parliament debated a draft law that would allow religious doctrine to govern people’s private affairs—especially marriages and child custody. This is a blow to women’s rights in a country that was once considered a leader when it came to gender equality, with an active women’s association and progressive laws introduced in the mid-20th century.
Iraq was the first modern Arab country to have a female judge—Sabiha AlShaikh Daood who was appointed in 1956—and first Arab country with a female government minister, Nazima al-Dulaimi, appointed in 1959. And while Iraq remained a largely religious country, civil laws were introduced to govern personal affairs— until now. With all the many challenges facing the Middle East, little attention is being paid to this threat.
Such a move would undo decades of family law advances in the country. This bill aims to amend Iraq’s family legislation, which is based on both Islamic and civic law, in order to have sectarian laws take precedence over the law that has governed all the citizens of the country, regardless of their creed, for more than half a century.
The amendments proposed to the law would mean that personal matters, such as the minimum age for marriage and the custody of children, would follow different sectarian edicts for different individuals. This could mean a girl being married off at the age of 9, according to one of the Shiite schools of jurisprudence. Custody of children as young as 2 years old could automatically go to the father. Divorce would become much easier to attain, removing key protections for women that were put in place under the existing civil law. The draft bill specifically says that the husband’s sect would take precedence in determining all matters, putting women at a further disadvantage.
In addition to the detrimental effects that this law could have for women and children in the country, it is a further act to divide Iraqis according to sect. Rather than having one law equally governing the land for all Iraqis, many of whom intermarry, this amendment would mean that sectarian beliefs would take precedence over civil law. It would consolidate the sectarianism that has plagued institutions in Iraq for the past two decades.
Iraq’s 1959 family law, known as the Personal Status Law, is among the most forward-leaning in the Middle East. At the time of its adoption, it was nothing short of revolutionary. The legal age for marriage was set at 18—with limited exceptions to allow marriage at age 15 if both a judge and guardian allowed it. Forced marriage was explicitly banned, both men and women were given the right to request a divorce, and a woman’s right to alimony in case of separation was enshrined.
While these may seem like basic rights today, they were by no means guaranteed in the 1950s, and some countries in the region still do not give their citizens such rights.
However, a number of Islamist political parties that have come to power in post-2003 Iraq have wanted to dilute this law for years. The idea of such amendments was initially raised in 2004, ahead of the passing of Iraq’s current constitution, but it was quickly dismissed by a wide section of Iraq’s political class, who at the time still sought to make Iraq more Western-leaning. Heavy U.S. involvement also swayed parties at the time.
However, discussion of the family law has occurred again at various intervals over the past two decades, with sectarian and religious forces seeking more ways to tighten their grip on society. To make matters worse, a rollback of women’s rights could lead to a further erosion of Iraq’s weak state structures and fuel sectarian divides.
The muddying effect of the amendments, if they passed, is that competing authorities within both the Shiite and Sunni sects could claim to be the ultimate authority. It would further alienate religious minorities who are not included in the legislation but would be affected as the country grappled with a majority divided over basic laws.
The current text of the bill states that Iraqis would follow the highest authority or the one with the largest following. At the moment, there is no doubting that Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is the ultimate authority for the vast majority of Shiites in Iraq, but after his death—Sistani is 94 years old—that could also be contested. By its nature, the Sunni sect does not have one ultimate religious figure who decrees issues related to personal matters, rather they go directly to the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammed, although competing political factions from within the Sunni religious establishment have sought to exert the same type of influence over the community but have failed.
The problem with these amendments is that the powers behind them seek to tie the issue to religion—and what is deemed sacred—even when that’s not an accurate interpretation of the religion. With the pretense of sanctity, the politicians pushing the reforms seek to intimidate opponents. Anyone who challenges that which is considered holy could be labelled as blasphemous and then face the full weight of the law and society.
A second reading of the bill was meant to happen at the start of September but was postponed with an uptick of criticism from civil society and a minority of members of parliament. However, it has not been fully scrapped, and it could be scheduled for a second reading and pushed to a vote at any moment. Further deliberations are now hinting at potentially setting the legal minimum age for marriage at 15, rather than 9 years as initially suggested, but they do not address the concerns over sectarianism encroaching on Iraqi citizens’ private matters.
As Iraq largely falls out of the international headlines, and acts of mass violence recede, there is a general sense that the country is stable. However, the foundations of its political system—and the theocratic powers driving it—indicate longer term problems ahead. Ironically, while members of the legislature sought to push these amendments through, Iraq’s parliament has remained without a speaker for nearly a year.
Having a law that binds all citizens to the same rules and regulations in their personal matters—particularly when it comes to marriage, custody, and inheritance—is a unifier for Iraq’s citizens. Challenges to the state and its authority are being codified by the very people who are meant to be guardians of the state and its laws.
The timing of the debate over this law coincides with the Taliban introducing even more oppressive measures against the women of Afghanistan—in the form of a law purportedly intended to “promote virtue and prevent vice.” The two developments are very different in terms of their content and impact on society; however, they both target civil liberties, particularly those of women. They also both come in the wake of U.S. invasions that sought to promote so-called freedom for two decades.
The erosion of Iraqi women’s rights would be a damning legacy for those who came to power as a consequence of a U.S.-led war that promised liberation.
The post Iraq Is Threatening to Roll Back Women’s Rights appeared first on Foreign Policy.
