After massive backlash, Iraq revises legal marriage age for girls to 15

Iraq’s parliament recently revised and approved amendments to the Personal Status Law which reduced the minimum marriage age for girls to be married to 15 years. This decision marks a major step back from Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law which used to be recognized as one of the most forward-thinking family laws across the Middle East.

Earlier in August 2024, the parliament proposed a law to lower the legal



marriage age for girls in Iraq from 18 to 9. However, the decision met with strong opposition from activists and human rights organizations who claimed that the law would snatch the basic rights of girls at a very young age.

After the global outrage, the country’s parliament now revised the amendments and reduced the legal marriage age for girls from 18 to 15, with judicial approval required for marriages at 14.