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THE FORGOTTEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN

OF IRAQ

Caitlin Vito currently works at the


International Institute for Strategic Studies
(IISS) and has also held positions with the
United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation. Her research focuses on
migration flows from the Horn of Africa

The devastating consequences of unregistered marriages for Iraqi women


and children are leaving many Iraqis without basic state protection. The
potential security implications reach far beyond Iraqs borders.
It was only after her husbands death that she found out about the
devastating consequences for her and her daughter. The 25 year-old
woman and her husband had been married by a religious cleric as is the
case for many couples in Iraq and their religious marriage had never
subsequently been registered with the Iraqi civil authorities. In the
aftermath of his death, the young widow could neither find the marriage
contract that her husband had kept with him, nor the cleric who had
conducted the ceremony. Without their marriage registered in an Iraqi
court, and with no alternative proof of marriage, the young mother and
her daughter were both left ineligible for basic state assistance, such as
health care and education. Their story is not unique.
Iraqi law does not recognise a marriage if it is not registered by the courts
and couples who are only married by religious clerics are still single under
the law. Registration of marriage provides a couple with a legal marriage
certificate and marital identity papers, entitling the man and wife and any
subsequent children to basic state assistance and civic rights. Women in
unregistered marriages are left in legal limbo and are extremely
vulnerable should their husbands pass away or abandon them. In such
cases they are denied the state protection and support afforded to women
in registered marriages.
As marriage certificates are required for women to receive obstetric care
and to give birth in a hospital, many children born into unregistered
marriages are not born in state hospitals. Consequently, often these
children are without state birth certificates and thus do not have formal
identity documents. Oumayma Omar, a commentator on the Middle East,
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notes the continued disenfranchisement as these children grow-up since


they are denied the most basic of state assistance, ranging from
education and access to rations as well as to healthcare. This lack of
protection under Iraqi law, a report by the US Agency for International
Development Aid (USAID) concludes, makes women and their children the
primary and most vulnerable victims of unregistered marriages. While
under certain circumstances it is possible to petition for a marriage
certificate to legally prove a marriage, the requirements are frequently
unobtainable, especially for the poor and uneducated.
Of concern is that unregistered marriages are a growing phenomenon in
Iraq. With the fall of Saddam Husseins regime in 2003 and the breakdown
in the administrative structure, people have turned increasingly to
religious and community leaders for order. The 2014 USAID report
highlights that growing religious authority at the local level means that
marriage by verbal contract in front of a religious or tribal authority
remains the most common and socially accepted type of marriage for Iraqi
families.
Another contributing factor to the rise in unregistered marriages is the
increasing frequency of cases where one or both of the spouses are
underage. More often than not, this is true for the girl. With the legal age
for marriage in Iraq 18 years old, not registering a marriage is a way to
get around the law. Underage marriage is a growing problem in the
country. Most notably in the poorer areas, insecurity and poverty are
leading families to marry off their daughters before the legal age, hoping
to secure the girls future and to relieve the financial burden on the family.
In some rural areas, approximately 60% of marriages go unregistered by
Iraqi courts. Consequently, there are a significant number of births that
are not registered with state authorities. While accurate numbers of
unregistered marriages and births are extremely difficult to determine,
local civil society groups have raised alarm bells over the steady increase
since 2003. Statistics vary depending on the region and between rural and
urban areas; however, unregistered marriages are consistently most
prevalent in areas of high poverty, illiteracy and gender inequality.
Unregistered marriages are most concentrated in these areas as
requirements for obtaining a marriage registration prove frequently out of
reach for the poor and illiterate. Obligatory medical examinations and
identity documents, with their associated costs, as well as the
requirement for two approved witnesses, all pose barriers to obtaining
marriage registration for many. Couples may not be able to attend the
court if they live in remote areas and are not able to afford the
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transportation costs. Security issues often prevent people from traveling


to the more urban areas where courts are located. These practical
challenges are often coupled with a deep distrust of the Iraqi government
as well as local beliefs that see formal marriage registration as
subordination to the government, which constitutes an affront to a mans
authority over his family.
Addressing the challenge that marriage registration laws pose to Iraqi
society requires action from the government as well as from the
international community. Harsher penalties are needed for those who
officiate unregistered marriages as some religious clerics make a business
out of the practice, capitalising on the misconception that religious
marriages are legally accepted and do not require court registration. Any
punitive action should also be coupled with a strong national awarenessraising campaign, specifically targeting poorer regions. Distrust of
government and foreign officials means that such campaigns must be
carried out by local, trusted groups. Literacy promotion will also play a
role in reducing the frequency of unregistered marriages, especially given
the correlation between the practice and illiteracy rates.
At the same time, laws protecting childrens fundamental right to
education, regardless of gender, economic status or identity documents,
must be strengthened. Laws governing citizenship and birth registration
should also be assessed to identify entry points to ensure that children of
unregistered marriages have the right to Iraqi citizenship and the
associated legal documents. The Iraqi government must continue to be
lobbied to reform laws, policies and procedures associated with citizenship
and identity documents. At the international level, the global community
can support reform efforts as well as provide backing to Iraqi civil society
groups campaigning for greater protection for women in unregistered
unions and their children.
While these laws have profound consequences for individuals and their
families, on a broader level, they also pose a serious challenge to the
country as a whole. Widely practiced in Iraq, the consequences of
unregistered marriages reach deep into the fabric of society, further
disenfranchising already vulnerable groups. By leaving a significant
portion of the Iraqi population without any basic state protection, these
laws risk serving as another destabilising factor in an already unstable
country and region.
Beyond Iraq, the consequences of unregistered marriages should be of
concern to the international community. In the current security
environment, and with the influence of Daesh felt throughout and far
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beyond the region, it is tempting to focus solely on the so-called hard


security concerns and for attention to be diverted from soft issues and
the disenfranchisement of those most vulnerable.
This would be a serious mistake. Daesh and likeminded groups feed off of
disaffection. The increasing number of children growing up in Iraq with no
formal identity documents, education or access to basic services provides
a new pool of potential recruits for extremist organisations which promise
what has been denied to these people by the Iraqi government: access to
basic support and - not least of all - a sense of belonging and identity.
Addressing the challenges and consequences of unregistered marriages is
pragmatic both from a human rights perspective and a security
perspective. The Paris attacks have again, with horrifying clarity,
demonstrated that our fates are deeply intertwined with those of the
people of Iraq and the wider Middle East. We must have the foresight to
recognise that the profound consequences of unregistered marriages on
Iraqis will have implications far beyond Iraqs borders. This should be of
concern to us all.

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