Iraq – Imprisonment for husbands who marry second wife without the consent of the first one

Location: Kurdistan – Iraq

Language: Arabic + Kurdish

Voice: Natural

Duration: 00:04:57

Source: A24

Restrictions: A24 Clients

Dateline: 20-05-2022

Storyline:

The Personal Status Law in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which prevents husbands from marrying a second wife without her consent sparked anger among men in Kurdistan.

They called on the Men’s Union in the region to amend the law, which according to them is biased toward women.

The union records around 35 to 50 complaints annually because of the law that pushes men in Kurdistan to marry women from other Iraqi governorates where polygamy is allowed.

According to the Iraqi Civil Status Law, amended by the Kurdistan Parliament in 2008, the conditions required to allow a man to marry a second wife or more are; the consent of the first wife before the court or the first wife’s chronic illness, the good financial condition of the husband, and to sign a paper that he will be fair to both wives.

Violating the conditions requires a prison sentence of six months and a fine.

Shot list

Soundbite (Kamran Rasool – Sulaymaniyah Court Judge):

“The Kurdish legislator has set conditions to allow the husband to marry a second woman, which are the consent of the first wife before the court or the first wife’s chronic illness, the good financial condition of the husband, and to sign a paper that he will be fair to both wives. Any marriage conducted outside the court is a crime, and therefore there are two penalties; imprisonment for no less than six months and not more than one year and a fine of ten million dinars.”

Soundbite (Abdul Samad Badie – Lawyer):

“In my opinion, sometimes the second marriage breaks the family.”

Soundbite (Burhan Ali Farag – President of the Kurdistan Men’s Union):

“We register 35 to 50 complaints in our union annually because of this law, which prevents the husband from marrying the second wife without her consent. We demand an amendment to the law”

Soundbite (Shinyar Saleh – Feminist Activist):

“Yes, I support the law approved in the Kurdistan region that if the husband marries a second wife, the consent of the first wife must be obtained, which is an indication that there are laws that protect women and their rights in society.”