girls as young as 9 are now allowed to marry in Iraq

Iraq has moved a step closer to allowing girls as young as nine to marry, according to Euronews. The draft law, recently approved by a committee of 40 MPs, also provides for the restoration of religious courts, says Equality Now (EN). No date has yet been set for a vote by the full parliament on the legislation.

Government courts set the official age of marriage to 18 in 1959, although the legal age can drop to 15 if approval is granted by guardians.

Any move from government to religious courts could also see changes to laws regarding divorce, custody and inheritance, as well as marriage, according to Suad Abu-Dayyeh, EN's Middle East consultant.

"I think we will see an explosion of child marriage in Iraq if it's passed. It's not logical, we're in 2017 and we're still going backwards in terms of women's rights," Abu-Dayyeh added.