Iraqi women’s organizations, legal experts rally against Personal Status Law amendments

Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, women’s organizations and legal experts in Iraq voiced strong opposition to proposed amendments to the country’s Personal Status Law (PSL), which is up for a vote in the Iraqi parliament.

“We, as women’s organizations in Kurdistan, along with legal experts, judges, and activists, want to raise our voices and unite to prevent the amendment of Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959,” Bahar Ali, head of women's rights organization EMMA (We), told Shafaq News.

Ali emphasized that the amendments “go against the most basic rights of women and children in Iraq.”

The Iraqi parliament has twice failed to pass the contentious amendments to the Personal Status Law after placing them on the agenda alongside other controversial laws, including the General Amnesty Law and the law to return confiscated properties.

Earlier, Amnesty International urged the Iraqi parliament to drop the planned changes, warning that their passage would violate the rights of women and girls, deepen discriminatory practices, and potentially allow “the marriage of girls as young as nine.”

Despite public outrage, some lawmakers continue to back the amendment, in particular the Shiite Coordination Framework.