People in Iraq and members of human rights organizations are protesting against the law, but if adopted women and children are in danger.
On Sunday, the Iraqi Parliament held its first reading of a bill that allows girls as young as nine years old to be married. The bill would amend the Personal Status Law of 1959, which has been hailed as the most protective law for women in the Middle East.
The Personal Status Law was passed shortly after the fall of the Iraqi monarchy in 1958. The law put the governance of personal affairs, such as inheritance and marriage, in the hands of the state and took it out of the control of religious authorities. It also requires both men and women to be 18 years-old, or 15 years or older with permission of a judge and legal guardian, to be married under civil law.
