They will call it marriage, but we know what it really is.
Somewhere in Iraq, a little girl–maybe nine, maybe twelve–will be taken from her childhood and handed over to a man she did not choose. She will trade her dolls for wedding rings, her textbooks for housework. She will be told that this is her duty, that this is what God intended. But she will not understand why her dreams must end before they even begin.
On Tuesday January 21st, Iraq’s parliament added controversial amendments to one of the country’s laws, which critics say will effectively make child marriage legal. The amendments give Islamic courts more authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance.
Right now, the minimum age of marriage in Iraq is 18 in most cases. The changes would let clerics rule on the subject according to their own interpretation of Islamic law. Some denominations interpret such a law to allow girls as young as nine years old to be married.
This is not just a political decision–it is a death sentence for the futures of countless young girls.
Child marriage is not marriage at all; it is legalized abuse. It is a system that forces children into a life they are not prepared for, a life where they are stripped of the right to an education, their right to independence, their right to be children. It is a life where they will be more likely to experience domestic violence, poverty, and severe health complications.
Proponents of this law claim it aligns with Islamic principles and protects cultural traditions. But whose traditions are they protecting? Certainly not those of the girls who will be pulled out of school, trapped in homes where they have no say, no autonomy, and no escape. This is not about faith–it is about control. It is about stripping away decades of progress for women’s rights in Iraq under the pretense of religious doctrine.
The world cannot stay silent. If Iraq allows this law to stand, it sends a dangerous message: that the rights of women and girls are disposable, that progress can be erased overnight, that a child’s suffering is a price worth paying for political gain.
But a nine-year-old girl is not a bride. She is a child. And no government, no court, no law should have the power to steal that from her.
