Iraq’s parliament passed a law that legalizes marriage for girls as young as nine years

The amendments give Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance. Activists argue that this undermines Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law, which unified family law and established safeguards for women.
Iraqi law currently sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage in most cases. The changes passed on Jan 21 would let clerics rule according to their interpretation of Islamic law, which some interpret to allow marriage of girls in their early teens – or as young as 9 under the Jaafari school of Islamic law followed by many Shiite religious authorities in Iraq.