Iraq bill sparks fury over child marriage

BAGHDAD: A bill before Iraq's parliament that opponents say legalises child marriage and marital rape has sparked controversy ahead of elections as secular activists face off against the draft law's backers.
The bill, the Jaafari Personal Status Law, sets out rules to do with inheritance, marriage and divorce.
Supporters of the draft say it simply regulates practices already existing in everyday life.
Opponents say the bill represents a step back for women's rights in Iraq, and worry that it could further fray already fragile sectarian ties between the country's various communities amid heightened violence ahead of April parliamentary polls.
Critics point in particular to a clause of Article 147 in the bill which allows for girls to divorce at the age of nine, meaning they could conceivably marry even earlier, and another article which would require a wife to have sex with her husband whenever he demands.
Other clauses have been ridiculed for their specificity, from the conditions under which mothers must breastfeed their children to how many nights a polygamous man must spend with each wife and how he may use additional nights.
But the part of the bill that has provoked by far the most anger has been the one regarding the marriage and divorce of young girls in Iraq, where a quarter of women are married before the age of 18, according to a 2013 study by the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau.
Analysts have, however, dismissed the bill as politicking, and say it is highly unlikely to make it through Iraq's Council of Representatives. – AFP