Marriage of child girl a viola

Marriage of child girl a violation of human rights Marriage girl before the age of 18 is a fundamental violation of human rights. Many factors interact to place a child at risk of marriage, including poverty; the perception that marriage will provide ‘protection’, family honor, social norms, customary or religious laws, so child marriage is a global issue that negatively affects the rights of girls, that over 700 million women alive today were married before their 18th birthday. Across the globe, levels of child marriage are highest in sub-Saharan Africa, where 35 per cent of young women were married before age 18, followed by South Asia, where nearly 30 per cent were married before age 18. Because of starting these processes early in life also increases girls' risk of social isolation and violence. In addition children may face enormous health risks related to early marriage, pregnancy and delivery, both physically and psychologically and it limits a child’s opportunity to enjoy her childhood and continue her education. It is possible also to be known that child marriage is as forced marriage, since a child usually lacks the maturity and level of information that I necessary to make an informed choice and most of time children often accept to get married under pressure including threat. In light of this the issue of child marriage is addressed in a number of international conventions including the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, for example, covers the right to protection from child marriage in article 16, which states: “The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage”. Although the concept of marriage is not mentioned directly in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, because the child marriage is linked to other rights such as the right to freedom of expression, the right to protection from all forms of abuse and the right to be protected from harmful traditional practices. \ In the other hand Iraqi legislations on child marriage are currently below the country’s obligations under international standards ,the Article 41 from Iraqi Permanent Constitution (2005) stipulates that “Iraqis are free in their commitment to their personal status according to their religions, sects, beliefs or choices, and this shall be regulated by law ”.This article provides room for specific legislations by sect or by religious group in the Iraqi Council of Representatives that suggested to the Iraqi parliament in 2014 for instance allows for the marriage of child girls as young as 9 years of age according to the Iraqi personal law. In 2013 the Iraq’s Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation, announced that Iraq is among countries with the highest rates of underage marriage in the world that reached 11%. The currently applicable law of the Personal Status Law in Iraq No. 188 from 1959, is a relatively progressive law according to compliance with the international standards on determining and limiting the legal age of marriage, which is 18 (article 7) Moreover, article 2 of the law on Domestic Violence number 8 (2011) in the KRI defines child marriage as an act of domestic violence and the article 7 of the same law, imposes imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years with a fine of 1 to 5 million Iraqi dinars on any person credibly believed to have committed an act of domestic violence, including child marriage. In Kurdistan region-Iraq, child marriage is a serious and growing issue that needs an uncompromising intervention in the form of preventive legislations and protective measures. In parallel, sustained efforts to raise public awareness and continuous advocacy against child marriage remain a must for changing social practices and adopting new behavior. Without changing social practices, child marriage is bound to stay within a society even with the adoption of laws that prevent it. Child marriage in the Kurdistan region- Iraq is yet to be adequately researched and documented in order to be effectively addressed through advocacy and policy recommendations. According to a recent UNICEF survey estimated in December 2018 that 27% of women are married before the age of 18 in Kurdistan Region