Proposed Iraqi Law Would Allow Girls As Young As 9 To Marry

[FLPanhandle]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/30/iraq-child-marriage-law-vote_n_5234828.html



When Iraqis head to the polls on April 30, they will have the option of voting for a party that endorses a proposed new law that allows marital rape and makes it legal for girls as young as 9 to marry.

The Jaafari Personal Status Law, which would affect only Iraq's majority Shiite population, was already approved by Iraq’s Council of Ministers in February and is slated for a vote after a new parliament is elected, the Washington Post reports.

The bill was first introduced to the council by the Iraqi Justice Minister, who is a member of the Islamist Fadila party and reportedly an ally of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who currently seeks reelection.

"This is an attempt by Fadila to show Iraqis that they represent the Shia and want to make their identity clear before the election,” professor Hassan al-Shimari, a political analyst at Baghdad University, told The Guardian. “Everything is changing on a daily basis, and the division between the Shia themselves keeps being redefined."

The proposed law does not explicitly set forth an age limit for marriage but designates 9 as the age by which a child can get divorced (implying that a child can be married before then). It also legalizes marital rape, bans Muslim men from marrying non-Muslim women, gives husbands full guardianship over their wives and prevents women from leaving the house without their husband’s consent, Human Rights Watch notes.

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I guess their "logic" is, if it was good enough for Muhammad, then it's good enough for other Muslim men.

[1939]

1. But, but, but

All cultures have equal value. To deride their culture would be Eurocentric Ethnicism.

[thereismore]

2. That's what Islam does. Who can be surprised. nt

[PeoViejo]

3. Get them before the drones do.

Life is short and brutal in Iraq.

Thanks Dubya.

[polly7]

4. Omg ....

Let's just hope it doesn't get signed into law. Safia al-Suhail, one of 82 female MPs in Iraq's parliament, says it is unlikely.

Those poor little girls - even just hearing of this would be terrifying.

[Nye Bevan]

5. "It also legalizes marital rape".

This is a truly horrible culture.

[hifiguy]

14. But who are we to criticize

and the Western World is just as bad, of course.



Cultural relativism belongs on the ash heap of history.

[Wounded Bear]

6. Proposed Iraqi Law Would Force Girls As Young As 9 To Marry

FIFY. Abominable.

[FLPanhandle]

7. You gave a much more accurate title.

It is indeed abominable too.

[Wounded Bear]

8. Because children that young don't 'choose' much...

they do what their parents tell them. Arranged marriages like that should have died with the advent of civilization. It's little more than selling them into slavery.

[malaise]

9. Iraq used to be one of the most secular countries in the ME

before the illegal invasion and occupation by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice et al.

They have set back the ME by centuries.

[FLPanhandle]

11. Saddam was an asshole, but he kept Islam culture under strict control.

Removing him was a huge mistake.

[hifiguy]

13. It is one of history's weirder ironies that the only muslim majority countries

where women ever enjoyed anything close to equality under the law, as is the western norm, were both brutal but purely secular dictatorships - Saddam's Iraq and the Shah's Iran.

Which says something pretty awful about islam and islamism.

[FLPanhandle]

15. There are websites that show life in Iran before the Islamic revolution

Puts a lie to the "the women want to wear hijabs and burkas".

[JI7]

16. misleading, education for women increased AFTER the revolution . women are more educated

now and in greater numbers, even compared to men in some areas than they were before the revolution.

one of the only good things about the islamic clerics in iran. they pushed for women to be equal in this area. and it's the same reason women there made up a huge part of the protests in recent years.

[FLPanhandle]

17. Have you even read the Human Right's reports on Women in Iran?

I hate apologists. "One of the good things about Islamic clerics was they pushed for female equality."

There are dozens of UN reports that put a lie to that crap.

[JI7]

18. are you an apologist for the oppressive shah ? before the revolution women were NOT equal in

access to education. more women graduate than men in iran.

i'm referring to just ONE area . i'm not saying iran is great for women.

but neither was it great before the revolution.

and in the area of education it IS BETTER now for women than before the revolution.

[FLPanhandle]

19. Simple question: Yes or No?

Is life better for the women of Iran before or after the Islamic Revolution?

I'll ping a Iranian woman here to respond to you if you think yes to educate you.

[JI7]

20. i would say it's about the same . i would probably prefer to live there right now than under the

shah.

i know many iranian people . they hate the islamic restrictions. but they also hate the shah .

[FLPanhandle]

22. Then you aren't female or you aren't well informed.

Look for something in your inbox from a Iranian woman. Learn from it.

[JI7]

24. i am informed about education in iran for women , i know iranian women personally

they hate the islamic clerics but they also hated the fucking shah .

[FLPanhandle]

29. LOL

A man who "knows" Iranian women. Women who would prefer to live under Islamic law

What a crock of shit.

[JI7]

30. i'm not a man , and i'm comparing iran under the islamic clerics to under the shah . iranian women

hate both.

[AngryAmish]

38. ..

.html

[NickB79]

33. It's possible to increase education for women and repress them at the same time, you know

Education doesn't do nearly as much good as you seem to think it would when a repressive regime is in control that bases it's beliefs around a religious interpretation that considers women inferior to men.

Hey ladies, you're well-educated! Congrats! But we'll only let you get jobs in these specific, traditionally female fields, and only if your husbands say it's OK for you to work outside the home! And heaven forbid you try to disobey your husband's wishes or act secular or our morality police will beat you down in the street. Enjoy that freedom!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/irans-brutal-morality-police-are-growing-in-power-warns-nobel-prize-winner-842090.html

[JI7]

34. well, yeah that was a problem during the shah also. both are shitty

women were a large part of the revolution which got rid of the shah and a large part of recent protests.

[hifiguy]

21. Islamic clerics "pushed for women to be equal"???

[FLPanhandle]

23. Another apologist.

They make me sick.

[JI7]

25. in education

[hifiguy]

26. And cloistered third-class citizens in all other ways,

on par with the donkeys.

[JI7]

27. lack of education automatically does that as under the shah

[hifiguy]

31. You are kidding, aren't you?

Women were free to participate in civil society. Now not so much.

[JI7]

32. they have more access to education now than before

[NickB79]

35. And it's clearly doing them no good at all

Because the Iranian Morality Police are actively killing women now who violate religious edicts: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/irans-brutal-morality-police-are-growing-in-power-warns-nobel-prize-winner-842090.html

[JI7]

40. they all suck including the life under the shah

[AngryAmish]

37. That statement belongs in the "not even wrong" category.

It is shocking in it's ignorance.

Going forward, if you really believe this, refrain from commenting in this area. You have nothing to contribute.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. Ugh

[hifiguy]

12. Calling islam barbaric is an insult

to barbarians and barbarism.

[Eugene]

28. This story is from 2014.

It was a pre-election proposal that went nowhere.

[Deuce]

41. Yes...

UPDATE: The Jaafari Personal Status Law was not voted on before the April 30 election, and we believe it’s thanks to your message and the 645,157 other messages sent in protest of this law.

http://www.walkfree.org/iraq-child-marriage/

[Scurrilous]

42. Shhhhhhhhh...

....he's on a roll. It's like he's channeling littlegreenfootballs circa 2005.

[AngryAmish]

36. Yeah, this is a culture demanding democracy.

Fuck Bush.

Fuck this culture.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

43. Saddam Hussein was a dictator, BUT Iraq was under secular law

and had one of the best records on women's rights in the Middle East.

After the invasion, Laura Bush was gushing about how "now girls in Iraq will be able to go to school."

Uh, they had been going to school for YEARS.

I suppose she was counting on the fact that a lot of Americans don't know one Middle Eastern/Central Asian country from another.

For all their faults, the Iranian clerics did not keep girls out of school. If you've seen the movie "Kandahar," which is about Afghanistan under the Taliban, you may remember a scene in which some girls are being taken to Iran for schooling.