Minister: "Women Should Wear What They Want"

NIQASH: Do you believe the personal status law should be amended?

Nouri: I have yet to work with women in central and southern Iraq as much as I have worked with women in Iraqi Kurdistan. However the experience I’ve had in Iraqi Kurdistan cannot be the basis for working in other parts of Iraq. So to begin with we will do some more research, on discrimination and on any laws that have encouraged discrimination. The second study will look at similar laws in neighbouring countries. Once that’s been done we will be able to take some definitive steps towards making changes to the law.

NIQASH: What about the issue of polygamy? In Iraqi Kurdistan, where you’re from, it’s virtually been banned. Yet men will simply cross the border into Iraq to marry a second and even a third wife.

Nouri:  We don’t have any plans to forbid it completely but we’re going to try and restrict it further. That is because we are not absolutely sure that banning it won’t actually have a negative effect on women under current conditions in Iraq. It might lead to an increase in divorce rates.

NIQASH: If there was a law that banned female genital mutilation, that banned any marriages that were not concluded in a court of law and that banned the enforced wearing of the niqab, would you vote for it?

Nouri:   In terms of the issue of female genital mutilation I highly doubt whether such a law would ever be submitted because it’s not really something that happens in central and southern Iraq. But if it was submitted, we would certainly vote for a ban because of the lasting physical and psychological damage such a practice does.

In terms of marriage that isn’t ratified by a court, I’m against it [Editor’s note: in Iraq, clerics can conclude various types of marriage, including very short term marriages between a man and a woman who is working as a prostitute, as well as longer term, more conventional marriages that are adjudicated only by clerics and family members]. It’s a widespread practice but it causes a lot of problems for anyone who gets divorced; their children are then unable to get official documents they require.

And as for the niqab, I believe that women should have the freedom to wear the clothing they want without restriction.

NIQASH: Let’s move onto the security crisis that is currently affecting Iraq, where extremists from the group known as the Islamic State are trying to claim parts of Iraq as their own. This has certainly affected many women. Does your Ministry plan to help them at all?