Iraqi women fear rise in child marriages as lawmakers mull giving clerics more say

Shaimaa Saadoun is haunted by her memory of being forced into an abusive marriage to a 39-year-old man just after she turned 13.

Her impoverished family near the southern Iraqi city of Basra hoped that the dowry of gold and money would help improve their circumstances. Her husband presented a bloodstained piece of linen to prove her virginity after their wedding night.

“I was expected to be a wife and mother while I was still a child myself. No child or teenager should be forced to live what I have lived and experienced,” said Saadoun, who divorced her husband when she was 30 and is now 44.

Saadoun’s marriage was illegal, though a judge – who was related to the husband – signed off on it. Iraqi law sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage in most cases.

But such child marriages of girls might be state-sanctioned soon. Iraq’s parliament is considering controversial legal changes that would give religious authorities more power over family law matters, a move that rights groups and opponents warn could open the door to the marriage of girls as young as 9.