Iraqi women protest against proposed marriage law in Iraq ****** About two dozen Iraqi women demonstrated on Saturday in Baghdad against a draft law approved by the Iraqi cabinet that would permit the marriage of nine-year-old girls and automatically give child custody to fathers. The groups protest was on International Womens Day and a week after the cabinet voted for the legislation, allowing clergy to preside over marriages, divorces and inheritances. The draft now goes to parliament. On this day of women, women of Iraq are in mourning, the protesters shouted. We believe that this is a crime against humanity, said Hanaa Eduar, a prominent Iraqi human rights activist. It would deprive a girl of her right to live a normal childhood. The UNs representative to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, also condemned the legislation. Mladenov wrote on Twitter the bill risks constitutionally protected rights for women and international commitment. The legislation goes to the heart of the divisions in Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. It describes girls as reaching puberty at nine, making them fit for marriage, makes the father sole guardian of his children at two. ترجم للعربي ؟
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 12:48:26 +0000