[theqoo] IRAQI PARLIAMENT PASSES BILL ALLOWING MARRIAGE OF CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 9

The Iraqi parliament has passed a bill that would legalize child marriage for those as young as 9 years old. 

Iraqi law has set the minimum marriage age at 18. 

The bill would allow girls as young as 10, or as young as 9, to marry, according to clerical interpretations of Islamic law. 

According to a 2023 UN survey, 28% of Iraqi girls were married before they turned 18. 

Iraqi women’s and human rights groups have said the bill’s passage would have “disastrous consequences for the rights of women and girls.”