General Iraqi civil law sets the minimum age for marriage at 18. But Iraq has instituted Ja'fari law, which allows marriage upon a girl reaching puberty (potentially as young as 9-years-old).
Baghdad’s decision to institute Ja’fari law has led to a bridal market boom, a report said.
Human rights organizations have warned that young Iraqi girls are being auctioned off in black market sales to older men, a Sunday Times investigation revealed.
The relatives of Amani, a 12-year-old girl set to be married off to a 17-year-old she has never met, told the Sunday Times that the ceremony would go ahead “without the need for her permission.”
A local cleric confirmed that Amani could be married, as she had started puberty.
One of Amani’s relatives admitted that, after the Ja'fari amendment passed, four of her younger cousins were quickly married off to older men for “financial reasons.”
An activist told the paper that under the new law, “parents can exchange daughters for money or status,” and the legislation amounted to “legalizing child rape.”
And individual who oversees shelters for runaway girls of forced marriage under The Organization of Women’s Freedom Iraq (OWFI) in Baghdad, confirmed to the Sunday Times: “We have seen a growing black market in Iraq where fathers are selling their daughters, pulling them out of education, mostly because of poverty … but they have been encouraged by some [clerics] who may benefit.”
The individual added: “These are children who are not aware that their husbands can use the Ja’fari law to strip their rights — they can divorce them, marry a second wife, and take their children without dispute.”
Dozens of businesses confirmed to the British outlet that since the Ja’fari law passed, they had increased sales.
Baraa Macer, an influencer and bridal makeup artist, admitted that many of her clients are now under age 10.
Ruweida, a bridal make-up artist in Sadr City, also said her clients this year were “almost entirely children.”
Ruweida described a “10-year-old girl who cried throughout her hair and makeup, and still her family was proud to say she was marrying an older man. She was trying to resist, but I could see she had bruises all over her head … this is very common.”
Support Free Press Foundation
