Iraqi women academics, writers, media professionals and artists reject proposed amendments to the Personal Status Law

  For the Nation and Our Citizenship

Iraqi women academics, writers, media professionals and artists reject proposed amendments to the Personal Status Law

August 14, 2024

We the undersigned, Iraqi women from inside and outside Iraq, and from different fields of education, research, and the arts, stand today with one voice to declare our rejection of the proposed amendments to the Personal Status Law 188 of 1959. Law 188 has long united Iraqis in their personal status and established the principles of justice and equality between men and women, regardless of their religious, ethnic, and sectarian affiliations.

We are committed to confronting these repeated attempts, which have been ongoing since 2003, to abolish the law or empty it of its content, on the pretext of giving citizens the right and freedom to settle marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance cases in accordance with the jurisprudence of their sect. These dangerous attempts to impose sectarian divisions will inevitably erase Iraq’s national identity and give primacy to sectarian sub-identities, as well as undermining the gains that have been made to protect women’s rights. They will return Iraq to the days prior to the creation of the state, by imposing laws based on subjective interpretations of Islamic law, threatening the authority of the state, undermining the constitutional right to equality, and creating parallel legislative authorities.

Attempts to amend the Personal Status Law reflect a deep-rooted patriarchal mindset that seeks to dominate Iraq’s legal and social space by imposing opinions and laws that chip away at women’s rights under religious or sectarian pretexts. This patriarchal structure does not see women’s rights—or indeed human rights—as essential to building a democracy. However, we affirm that protecting and constitutionally guaranteeing these rights is essential to building that democracy and is at the heart of creating a free and just society that respects the rights of all its members without discrimination.

We, Iraqi women, believe that the law must be fair and must apply to all Iraqis without discrimination or bias, and that any attempt to amend the Personal Status Law must be within the framework of respect for human rights and the international conventions to which Iraq is committed. 

We emphasize that laws and legislation, especially those related to the regulation of personal status, must be the result of a dialogue within society that takes place before any constitutional procedure, because these laws affect all sectors of the Iraqi people, present and future, and should not simply be the gains of a specific political group.

We strongly condemn the defamation campaigns and accusations of treachery that are being waged against free voices that reject these amendments, campaigns that seek to silence and suppress them through slander, character assassination and other tactics. These acts reflect a deep moral deterioration that threatens the fabric of society and runs counter to morality and religion.

We, Iraqi women, condemn any attempt to divide Iraqis according to their sect and to fragment the national identity, and we reject acts that threaten to fragment the body of national legislation. We call on all national and civil forces, men, and women, to protect the gains achieved by Iraqi women over the decades and to stand united against the passage of amendments to the Personal Status Law. We emphasize that Iraq needs laws that strengthen its national unity, within the framework of a new social contract.  

Noof Assi    Contact the author of the petition