Iraq legalises marriage so that 9 year olds can marry

The clue is in the title of the thread. Natch.
Iraq.

So in all families in Iraq, little girls aren't valued?

45 million people.

www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/22/women-children-rights-iraqi-law-allows-child-marriage

This sheds some light on the state of affairs in Iraq. As expected many Iraqis are not happy with this. Is wrong to expect that these laws are accepted by the masses. People do and will fight it. Iran is a good example of clerics dictating laws that brave people then protest against, especially women.

Whitewavemark2

What concerns me is the calibre of the men!

Where is their humanity?

Given the chaos and disagreements Not Spaghetti quoting the Guardian as above reported on when it was discussed, I wouldn't assume all the men think the same, as is shown in this article (MaleMP's and activists oppose)

www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/22/women-children-rights-iraqi-law-allows-child-marriage

We should be aware that even in countries we are quick to judge as barbaric and backward, there are good decent people who lay their lives on the line to change things for the better. Human beings always lean towards the light even in the darkest of despair.

Oh, cross posted, Babs. There's a good photo in the article, too.

Wyllow3

Oh, cross posted, Babs. There's a good photo in the article, too.

Yes was about to say snap.

I didn’t say ‘all families’.
I said ‘in families’. Which is true.

Pure evil, totally vile. I just cannot imagine it.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

I didn’t say ‘all families’.
I said ‘in families’. Which is true.

You said "in families there". That sounds like a fairly generic term to me.

All families, millions of them, don't value young girls?

iraqtech.io/meet-iraqs-influential-women-in-tech-version-two/

Wyllow3

Whitewavemark2

What concerns me is the calibre of the men!

Where is their humanity?

Given the chaos and disagreements Not Spaghetti quoting the Guardian as above reported on when it was discussed, I wouldn't assume all the men think the same, as is shown in this article (MaleMP's and activists oppose)

www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/22/women-children-rights-iraqi-law-allows-child-marriage

No I agree. But the men who marry these children?!

Well they are paedophiles so am not sure how we could expect humanity . I dont mean to dismiss that question but you cant rationalise it if you know what I mean.

Babs03

There is a very poor record of women's rights in many countries across the ME, in parts of Africa, and India, to name but a few. But as with Iran there are brave groups of women fighting to improve this in all these parts of the world, risking their freedom and their lives, and I imagine women's groups in Iraq will fight this.
This is not about religion is about patriarchal cultures using religion to control and abuse girls/women. The best way anyone can help these girls and women would be to donate to Amnesty International or other human rights organisations trying to fight against this and release women imprisoned for challenging such laws.

Babs. I shall do just that, donate something to Amnesty International, as there is little else I can see for us to do, and it is hard to know of the suffering and do nothing.
India has still a long way to go too, even though it might look all right to some, on the surface, to make life better for women and girls.

I guess the Iraqis whose applications for asylum will be turned down by the UK, will not suffer much if at all, as they are mostly young men. Maybe if they like our values they can go home and join those there who are already trying to improve the values of their own country.

Galaxy

Well they are paedophiles so am not sure how we could expect humanity . I dont mean to dismiss that question but you cant rationalise it if you know what I mean.

Child brides are a huge problem in many parts of the world where it is legalised, as well as FGM. Many don’t survive the rigours of childbirth when a child themselves or FGM where there are many cases of infection resulting in sepsis.
Half the population of this world is female yet only a staggeringly small percentage enjoy the freedoms that their male counterparts have. In countries where we do enjoy these freedoms I believe it is incumbent upon us to campaign against this totally unacceptable state of affairs. Many human rights organisations help fight these injustices, petitions are often online, MPs can be contacted by email, and as I have said before we can donate to charities that fund the fight against child brides, as well as other heinous practices.

There is also an Islamic International Organisation called Islamic Relief which speaks out against child brides, forced marriage, and FGM

www.islamic-relief.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/FORCED-MARRIAGE-CSW62.pdf

btw GN's may not like other aspects of Islamic Relief's work but they are clear on this

That sounds a bit ominous, what are the other aspects, I am not particularly familiar with them

@AN41
Thanks 🙏🏾 we also donate to them.
We can only do what we can do.

Galaxy

That sounds a bit ominous, what are the other aspects, I am not particularly familiar with them

I went googling and checked out their status as regards UK and USA governments as NGO's and areas where they do charity.

Just wanted to add that the UK has considerable interests in Iraq in course oil - BP and other firms. We import oil from Iraq - we may not be without influence, tho I dont know that situation.

It used to be the case in the UK,too, a few centuries ago. Mostly marriages made by the respective parents to ensure prosperity and uniting assets. The nobility in particular did this. More often than not the marriages were not consummated until the females were older. I sincerely hope this is the case in Iraq but I doubt it.

I think 9 is a significant age in Islam

According to Aisha herself

The messenger of Allah married me when I was six and consummated the marriage with me when I was nine

To add context Aisha is depicted as being very scholarly along with helping to spread the word of Islam for over 40 years.

Hasn't America still got some states with no minimum age for marriage (with consent from parents)?
I know this was the case a few years ago.

I think in some very "religious" areas if a man made a young girl pregnant and they then married there was no legal case to answer.

So they can be repeatedly raped and beaten by their grotesquely fat, smelly and ugly ''husbands'' who are old enough to be their great-granddads.

Totally twisted.

It's one of the reasons I'm Atheist ....

Re under 18s and marriage USA:

However, child marriage remains legal in 37 states and is happening in the U.S. at an alarming rate: Unchained’s groundbreaking research revealed that more than 300,000 children as young as 10 were married in the U.S. since 2000 – mostly girls wed to adult men.

Unchained at Last - where this is copied from - are campaigning for all states to set the legal age at 18.

Child marriage undermines statutory rape laws. In most states and under federal law, sex with a child that would otherwise be considered rape – in some cases, felony rape – becomes legal within marriage. In those situations, the marriage license becomes a “get out of jail free” card for a child rapist.

www.unchainedatlast.org/child-marriage-in-the-u-s/

NotSpaghetti

Hasn't America still got some states with no minimum age for marriage (with consent from parents)?
I know this was the case a few years ago.

I think in some very "religious" areas if a man made a young girl pregnant and they then married there was no legal case to answer.

There is no statutory minimum age for marriage in California, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

One state is 15, the others are 16, 17 and 18.

It is also illegal for a minor to divorce or leave an abusive spouse, in the first four states.

Unbelievable in the 21st Century.

I am so grateful that I was born in the U.K.