Updates
Please note that during the designing of this report, Saudi Arabia published the Implementing Regulations of the Personal Status Law, which update and accompany the 2022 Personal Status Law (PSL) codification mentioned in the report below. The new regulations address provisions on marriage, divorce, custody, and male guardianship— areas identified as sex discriminatory – with some reported limited improvements. We will continue to monitor these developments and their impact on women and girls in Saudi Arabia.
Update: We welcome the Kyrgyzstan government’s adoption of the new Labor Code, which removes and amends sex-discriminatory restrictions that previously barred women from over 400 jobs. As highlighted in our report below, the previous labor code prohibited women from working in roles deemed “harmful or dangerous.” Equality Now has long advocated for eliminating all forms of sex-based discrimination in Kyrgyzstan’s labor laws and formally objected to these restrictions in 2023 before the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Update: In February 2025, an amendment to Iraq’s Personal Status Law came into effect. As outlined in the report below, the amended Personal Status Law allows Muslim people in Iraq to choose between the Personal Status Law of 1959 (civil law) or a religious family law, which both govern matters related to marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance among others. This multiplicity of applicable family laws undermines the principle of equality and risks eroding women’s rights in Iraq.
However, we welcome the fact that the amendment requires that Article 8 of the Personal Status Law, which sets the minimum age of marriage at 18, with judicial exceptions allowing marriage from the age of 15, and the conditions under which polygamy are allowed under Article 3, not be contravened and weakened. This prevention of further backsliding on women’s and girls’ rights was achieved through advocacy efforts by women’s rights groups in Iraq and internationally. However, the law still does not align with international human rights standards, which set the minimum age at 18 without exceptions and discourage polygamy.
We will continue to monitor the implementation of this law and advocate for the Iraqi government to prohibit all forms of child marriage and uphold the rights of all women and girls across the country.
Update: Repealed! We are pleased to announce that the State of Kuwait, through Decree-Law No. 70 of 2025, has officially repealed Article 182 of Law No. 16 of 1960 (the Penal Code), among other positive legal reforms removing sex-based discrimination in the law. This discriminatory provision allowed “kidnappers” of women and girls to escape accountability, including for sexual violence, by marrying their victims.
We particularly commend the Government of Kuwait for grounding this landmark decision in the country’s international human rights obligations and constitutional guarantees against discrimination in the law.
We have long advocated with our partners for the repeal of such laws, including Article 182, which perpetuate violence, inequality, and discrimination against women and girls. We will continue working alongside our partners in the region to share progress, encourage further legal reforms, and support the effective implementation of this vital legal change, a meaningful step forward for the rights of women and girls in Kuwait.
