Some Shiite parties in the Iraqi Parliament have submitted a draft law to the parliament under the "Personal Status Law" that takes the power of attorney of the child from the mother and paves the way for marriages at the age of 9. Legal experts state that these amendments would undermine the fundamental rights of women and children and increase violence in society.

 

Reactions to the draft law continue to come. In a written statement, the Free Yazidi Women's Movement (TAJÊ) stated that Iraq wants to discuss and implement the genocide against women instead of listening to the voices of free women and that they consider any amendment to the law as an attack on women's struggle.

 

"There is no place for women's rights in Iraqi laws," the statement said, adding that the laws are written with a "male mind". 

 

TAJÊ's statement continued as follows: 

 

"The change in this law endangers women's lives the most. Laws against women, children and their rights are drafted by men. It is the masculine state mind that discusses and changes it. We consider the proposed amendment to this law as a threat to the lives of every woman living in Iraq. In the current situation, women have no right to protect themselves in any way. With laws like this, the state establishes the inequality between men and women, which gives men more power over women. Women in Iraq are at risk in all areas of life. Women's rights are violated politically, economically, educationally and legally. 

 

SOCIAL DEFILEMENT IN THE PERSON OF WOMEN 

 

The marriage of a 9-year-old girl is a massacre. It is a massacre of society in the person of women. To marry off a 9-year-old child is to kill life. This amendment to the law will officially pave the way for the marriage of girls at the age of 9. Legitimizing this will lead to the physical, mental and social murder of women and girls. We are in the 21st century and this century is the century of women's freedom. Women all over the world are struggling with the philosophy of 'Jin jiyan Azadî (Woman, life, freedom)' and resisting the dominant patriarchal understanding. Instead of listening to the voices of liberated women, Iraq, on the contrary, discusses and wants to implement the genocide of women. We consider the amendment of the law in the Iraqi parliament as an attack on women's struggle.

 

THE LAW MUST BE ABOLISHED BEFORE IT IS AMENDED 

 

As Iraqi women, we strongly reject and condemn this decision. This law must be abolished completely without amendment. We call on all institutions and organizations fighting for the rights of women and children in Iraq to raise their voices against this. 9-year-old girls belong in playgrounds, parks, streets and schools, not in homes and having children."