Amending Iraqi personal status law creates objections, described as insult to women

Women‌‌ 01:46 PM - 2021-07-06

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On the proposal of a number of parliamentarians, the Iraqi parliament is working to amend Article 57 of the personal status law, which determines the fate of children after parents divorce.

 

Personal Status Law is a term that applies to the rulings of the constitution related to marriage, divorce, alimony, will, inheritance in addition to other legal issues related to family. This law was a fruit of replacing socialism instead of individualism after the revolution of 14th of July, 1958.

 

The attempts to amend the law has created a disagreement among parliamentarians and calls for the amendment to be halted.

 

Regarding the matter, Hassan Alli, a member of the Iraqi parliament on the PUK bloc, told PUKmedia that according to the proposal to amend Article 57 of the Iraqi Personal Status Law, which is now one of the items of the parliament session's agenda, when parents divorce children will remain with fathers until the age of seven.

 

According to the new law, the relatives mother have more right to custody of the child in the event of divorce and separation until the child is seven years old, unless the child is harmed.

 

"In addition to the fact that many members of parliament reject the amendment, more mothers have contacted us and demanded that the old law be enforced," said MP Alli.

 

According to the original law, the child will remain with a mother until the age of 18, and then they decide where they want to be, until he or she is married, but the father can see the child in accordance with the law.

 

Another MP of the PUK, Rezan Sheikh Dler, said: "The amendment to Article 57 of the Iraqi personal status law is a great danger."

 

"Many parliamentarians are not even present at the parliamentary sessions regarding that matter, and the parliamentary presidency has closed their eyes towards the dangers of this proposal. They want to create a major threat to the future of the next generations with proposals from a few MPs," she added.

 

Last Thursday, the Iraqi parliament completed the first reading of the proposal to amend the Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959, while the Parliamentary Legal Committee rejected the amendment regarding transferring custody to the father instead of the mother, as it harms the interests of the child.

 

The law is an unsult to women

 

A human rights activist criticized the amendment of the Personal Status Law, stressing that political and electoral goals are behind the amendment.

 

Activist Hana Adwar told PUKmedia that the proposal and its amendment came quickly without prior studying, explaining that before the end of every parliament term, a draft amendment to the Personal Status Law is usually submitted, as in other sessions, for purely electoral political purposes and to deceive people.

 

"The amendment did not come from a legal, economic, social or psychological study, as there is an expression that is not accurate, such as using the word "fathers" instead of "parents", to emphasize the extent of the masculinity of the law," Adwar said, noting that the law focused on custody only and that the mother be an adult, secure, be sane, capable, and unmarried, and all of this did not require anything from the father, especially if he remarried.

 

The amendment is an insult to the woman and considers them as a second-class citizen," she added, pointing out that "in the event of the father's death, surprisingly the grandfather will receive custody of the child and not the mother, isn't the mother the closest to the child?"

 

Adwar indicated that the amendment to the Personal Status Law is intended for electoral and political propaganda, stressing that the civil society movement, community awareness, and broad campaigns are against the amendment and ensure the protection of society's stability and the rights of women and children.

 

 

 

PUKmedia