• Download the Iraq section of Home Truths: A Global Report on Equality in the Muslim Family in English or Arabic.

• View the report submitted to Musawah that was prepared collaboratively by organisations working in various parts of Iraq.   English   Arabic

• View the Iraqi Personal Status Law of 1959 in English.

The Iraqi legal system has been in transition since the current conflict began in 2003. Before the year of 1959, personal status issues were not codified, but were resolved through judicial precedents and the jurisprudence of clerics. The Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959 regulates family affairs and all matters relating to marriage, divorce, inheritance, guardianship and custody of children for all Iraqis, regardless of sect. This included the right to retain the marital home after the divorce for a period of three years; equal marriage age for female and male; equating the dowry of women in divorce with the price of gold at the time of divorce; and requiring the husband to prove financial ability to maintain a second wife before contracting a polygamous marriage. This law had been subjected to numerous amendments over the years, mostly for the benefit of women.

However, article 41 of the new Iraqi constitution of 2005 provides that each religion or sect has freedom in management of its endowments, affairs and religious institutions, including personal status laws. The Iraqi women's organisations have been campaigning against the approval of this article. Since the constitution is still undergoing an amendment process by the Constitutional Review Committee, the Personal Status Law remains in effect.

• The culture prevailing in Iraq is male-dominated, with a clear preference for males over females in all aspects. Girls must obey and serve the needs of their fathers and brothers (and eventually husbands), who have the right to determine their movement. All girls are expected to marry. If a girl does not marry before the age of 25, she and her family will worry; if she does not marry by the age of 35-40 years of age, she is considered as a problem for her family.
   
• While girls have traditionally had good access to education, in bad economic times they are kept home from school before their brothers. In the current deteriorating security situation, some families prefer that girls not continue their educations as an issue of personal security and lack of easy, safe transport to and from school buildings. This has caused a high rate of female dropouts from secondary education in Iraq, particularly in rural areas and slums.
   
• There are no labour laws that explicitly prohibit women from working. In times of war, Iraq has relied on the efforts of women in the administration of the country, though upon return of the men from the fighting fronts women were expected to return home and thus lost their jobs and sources of income.
   
• Although women are often the breadwinners of the family, the head of the family in the Iraqi culture is the man. Even though the Iraqi personal status law preserves the rights of women in the event of divorce, application of the law is not guaranteed and women are not always protected from societal customs and religious interpretations.
   
• The most significant challenge currently is the adoption of article 41 of the new constitution and the potential removal of the Personal Status Law of 1959. The arguments demanding this include that the law arose from the previous political regime and should be abolished as part of the regime change; the law violates the provisions of Shari‘ah; and the law denies private sectarian rights of Iraqi citizens. Women in Iraq have faced difficulties in creating an independent women’s voice, despite the fact that 75 of the 275 deputies in the Iraqi Parliament are women.

• Since the establishment of the Iraqi state in 1921, girls have received education; they entered universities in the 1930s; they stormed the political life in Iraq in the 1940s, holding decision-making positions in the Working Party. In 1958, the first female minister in Iraq and the Arab region was appointed (Dr. Nazeha Al-Dulaimi). Education encouraged women to take on important roles within their families and society and showed the problems that occurred because of the economic subordination of women.
  
• Iraqi women's organisations have a strong campaign to retain the personal status law and invalidate article 41 of the new Iraqi constitution. These demands have been supported by many international organizations and non-governmental women's association. The arguments for keeping the law include:
  • The law is based on an advanced reading of Islamic law and was prepared by a committee of experts and scholars based on all of the doctrinal texts.
  • The law unifies all Iraqis and encourages social cohesion away from the narrow sectarian tendencies that threaten the Iraqi state.
  • The law is a product of the struggle of Iraqi women and the progressive forces that ruled before the Ba'ath party and Saddam Hussein came into power, thus is not a remnant of the previous regime. 
  • The abolition of the law would result in significant risks to mixed families, for example where one spouse is Shiite and the other is Sunni, which constitute a larger portion of Iraqi society.
  • The abolition of the law would contribute to the deepening of sectarian tendencies and division of communities and would encourage Iraqi society to return to a state of lawlessness.
    
• Throughout the past four decades, there has been opposition from conservative religious forces to the Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959. However, the progressive forces and the Iraqi women's movement have successfully resisted all attempts to repeal the law.