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New
parliament is expected to debate legislation that
diminishes the status of women.
When Shanaz Osman was asked to be a witness for a
friend’s marriage, the judge asked her to find
another woman to be a co-witness or stand down and
allow a man to perform the role instead.
Under Iraqi personal status law, certain civil legal
proceedings recognise a woman as being worth only
half as much as a man. Accordingly, Osman needed to
find another woman to be considered as equal to one
man. In the end, her sister accompanied her to the
marriage service.
"I'm surprised by the incorrectness of the law,”
said Osman. “As a woman, I’m considered to be half a
witness for some legal issues, while other legal
proceedings consider me to be a full witness."
Personal status legislation, which deals with issues
such as marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance and
other related topics, follows traditions laid down
in Islamic law. In many family-related proceedings,
a woman is considered to have half the status of a
man. In criminal cases, however, male and female
witnesses are acknowledged as equals.
When family members die, women are eligible for only
half the inheritance that their male relatives
receive. Zhian Ali was awarded half the estimated
value of her father’s estate, even though she spent
a large part of her salary buying appliances and
furniture for the family’s new home. “I did not even
get half the money I spent on the house,” she said.
The personal status law is one of many issues that
will be considered when parliamentarians begin
drafting a permanent constitution, a key function of
the new National Assembly. Last year, plans to annul
the controversial legislation were put on hold by
the interim Iraqi Governing Council.
The outgoing human rights minister Baktiar Amin said
that dealing with the personal status law would be a
daunting task for Iraq’s lawmakers.
“Striking the right balance between society’s
traditions and norms on one hand, and human rights
and civil liberties on the other will be the main
challenge for those drafting the constitution,” said
Amin.
There’s likely to be strong resistance to a change
in the law. Soran Mahwi, a lawyer, is among those
who do not feel it’s unfair. He argues that when a
man marries a woman, he has to support her.
Therefore, when his father dies he should be
entitled to more of the estate than female members
of the family.
Advocates of a reform of the legislation say that
with the drafting of a permanent constitution
there’s never been a better opportunity to lobby for
change.
"Rights must be fought for. They are not given,”
said Sairan Abdu-Rahman, a female lawyer. “We women
jurists must be assertive in demanding our rights.
We must fight the biggest part of this battle,
because we have more legal awareness than other
women."
Aso Akram and Niaz Muhammed are IWPR trainees in
Sulaimaniyah.
www.iwpr.net
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