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Iraqi Kurdistan Leaders Debate Polygamy
Ban
23.6.2007
By Najeeba Mohammad in Sulaimaniyah (ICR No. 224)
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Proposed law reignites long-standing debate among
Kurds about whether polygamy hurts or helps women.
June
23, 2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region (Iraq), --
Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament is challenging social
and religious tradition by considering legislation
that would officially ban polygamy in this northern
region, in a move that has divided some Kurdish
political leaders and women's groups.
According to Iraqi legislation concerning the
individual, which is largely derived from Islamic
law, men can be married to as many as to four women
at the same time.
The proposed legislation would make the practice
illegal in Iraqi Kurdistan, and has reignited a
long-standing debate among Kurds about whether
polygamy hurts or helps women, and whether legal
restrictions would stop multiple marriages.
"It has become a part of the culture," said Roonak
Faraj, head of the Women's Media and Cultural Centre
in Sulaimaniyah. Faraj is one of many women's rights
activists and political leaders who support a ban on
polygamy, but she does not believe the law will work
unless it is accompanied by an awareness campaign.
Polygamy is a traditional practice in Iraq that is
supported by many clerics, leaders and citizens,
both men and women.
At the same time, other politicians and women's
groups have fought against the practice for years
and argue that it is time to outlaw the tradition.
From 1994 to 2005, Iraqi Kurdistan was divided into
two administrations. In Sulaimaniyah, the ruling
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, banned polygamy.
However, many polygamists from the area simply
married in the areas run by the Kurdistan Democratic
Party, which allowed multiple unions.
The two administrations were unified in 2005 and are
now drafting laws to cover the three provinces in
Iraqi Kurdistan.
Under the proposed law, men who married more than
one wife would be fined the equivalent of 6,000 US
dollars and face three to five years in prison,
while women who became second, third or fourth wives
would face a 3,000 dollar fine.
Clerics who issue licenses for such marriages would
also be punished, although legislators have not
determined yet what the penalties would be.
The law would also give women the same inheritance
rights as men, and accord equal value to legal
testimony given by women. Current Iraqi legislation
follows Islamic law by giving women a lesser share
in inheritance, while the testimony of one man is
worth that of two women in court.
However, these provisions have not resulted in as
much public controversy as the proposed change in
the polygamy statute.
"I believe polygamy should be totally banned," said
Arez Abdullah, a PUK member of parliament who has
pushed for women's rights in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The current laws, Abdullah said, "are not in line
with human rights principles or the protection of
women".
But advocates of the right to polygamy argue that in
Iraq, multiple marriages help women with limited
options gain financial support or freedom from their
own families. Women rarely live on their own in
Iraq, and many women in their mid-thirties or older
say it is difficult to find an unmarried man.
Sheeran Ali, from Chamchamal, south of Sulaimaniyah,
wants to get married but does not believe that at
37, she can find an unwed husband. The Iraqi regime
arrested her older brother during the Anfal campaign
of the Eighties, when tens of thousands of Kurds
went missing following a crackdown by Iraqi forces.
Tradition dictates that older siblings should marry
before their younger brothers and sisters, so
Sheeran waited for her brother to come back. He
never did. After Saddam Hussein’s regime fell in
2003, mass graves were found containing Anfal
victims, and many families accepted that their loved
ones were dead.
"In this society, people tend to look down at
unmarried women," said Sheeran. "I'm ready to marry
a married man because I don't want to hear the
demeaning comments. I have the right to be a mother
like any woman."
According to Kharaman Mohammad, a media officer with
the Kurdistan Islamic Sisters’ Union, which opposes
the bill, "Women will be the first victims of a
total ban on polygamy. We don't support a total ban
on polygamy. We want to impose regulations and
limitations on how it is practiced."
Mohammad said polygamy should be allowed under
extenuating, unforeseen circumstances that occur
after a couple get married, such as if the wife
becomes chronically ill or is unable to bear
children.
Even those who support the ban admit that it will be
difficult to enforce because Iraqi national law will
continue to allow polygamy. Under Iraqi law, judges
can approve a polygamous marriage if the husband
demonstrates that he can provide for his wives and
that the union is legal. They can also refuse to
sanction polygamist unions if they believe the wives
will not be treated equally.
Khalil Ibrahim, a member of the Kurdistan
parliament, said that even if the law is passed,
polygamists will still be able to marry outside the
three Kurdish provinces.
"Even if this law is passed, it won't be
implemented," he said.
Ibrahim is a member of the Kurdistan Islamic Union
party which opposes the ban, but supports a law
requiring that wives must give their consent before
their husbands can enter into additional marriages.
Kwestan Mohammad, who heads the committee to defend
women's rights in the Iraqi Kurdistan parliament,
said the penalties envisaged in the draft law were
severe enough to deter people from ignoring the ban.
"I'm certain the law will be successful," she said.
"No man will be prepared to serve three years in
prison for marrying a second wife."
Najeeba Mohammad is an IWPR trainee journalist in
Sulaimaniyah.
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