Dozens of underage girls in Iraq are reportedly being married under newly amended personal status laws, raising alarms among human rights groups and women’s rights activists. According to reporting by Times UK, girls as young as nine are being married in the capital’s Sadr City district and other areas under the Ja’fari religious law, despite civil law setting the minimum age for marriage at 15.
Among the cases highlighted is 12-year-old Amani*, who, according to relatives, is set to meet her 17-year-old fiancé for the first time on their wedding night. “Her marriage was approved by a local cleric without the need for her permission,” one family member told Times UK. The amendment to Iraq’s personal status law, passed in January, allows citizens to select sect-specific religious courts to oversee marriage affairs, effectively introducing Ja’fari law, an eighth-century Shia jurisprudence.
Under Ja’fari law, judges can authorize child marriage based on perceived “maturity and physical capacity,” creating legal loopholes for unions involving girls under the statutory age. The Times reported that Amani’s four younger cousins were also married to adult men from wealthier tribes “for financial reasons” after the amendment came into effect.
Human rights advocates have warned that the amendment has fueled a black market for underage marriage. Jannat al-Ghezi, a founding member of Coalition 188, told Times UK: “We have seen a growing black market in Iraq where fathers are selling their daughters, pulling them out of education, mostly because of poverty … but they have been encouraged by some [clerics] who may benefit.”
The reporting highlights that Iraq’s wedding industry is seeing increased business linked to child brides, with videographers, makeup artists, and dressmakers citing a rise in clients under 15. The Sunday Times observed that on TikTok, some accounts share videos of girls younger than 10 preparing for weddings, often attracting thousands of views and comments. Baraa Macer, a makeup artist with 264,000 followers, claims some of her clients are under 10, wearing traditional white wedding cloaks.
Coalition 188 has been actively campaigning against the amendments. “These are children who are not aware that their husbands can use the Ja’fari law to strip their rights — they can divorce them, marry a second wife and take their children without dispute,” Ghezi explained to Times UK. She also described the increasing intimidation against protestors: “Women who have been fighting the law change have been targeted by the state — only a handful of mothers show up to protest now. The numbers get smaller and smaller and the most outspoken female lawyers have left the country … we have all been accused of being enemies of the state.”
Clerics and local courts are directly involved in authorizing child marriages. “I recently talked a 15-year-old out of getting a divorce from her 30-year-old husband,” a cleric in Kadhimiya told Times UK, adding that he only deals with child marriages “with her father’s permission.” Lawyers in Sadr City reported that a medical committee determines if a girl’s body is ready for marriage and defended the increasing numbers of underage unions as a measure to prevent out-of-wedlock relationships.
According to UN data, 28% of girls in Iraq are married before 18, with a further 22% of unregistered marriages involving girls under 14. The Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council reported 14,000 more weddings in the first half of 2025 compared with 2024, reflecting a significant rise in underage marriages.
Activists like Zainab Jawad, who fled to the Kurdish region for safety, described state repression against opponents of the amendment: “I was abducted and detained without a warrant … when they held me, I was locked in a room, and was told repeated death threats, ‘If I did not stop speaking about underage marriage, I would die’.”
Despite the risks, some bridal makeup artists in Baghdad continue to serve child clients. One, Ruweida, told Times UK: “These children are almost entirely underage this year. I always tell parents I disagree, but I continue my work because of how common these arrangements are.”
The amendment to Iraq’s personal status law highlights the ongoing tension between religious jurisprudence, civil rights, and international human rights standards. Coalition 188 and other organizations continue to fight against the law, with Ghezi affirming: “We must be brave because someone needs to protect Iraq’s girls.”
