This submission expresses concerns about the continued sex-based discrimination against Iraqi women married to foreigners who are not able to pass on their nationality to their spouses under the Iraqi Nationality Law No. 26/2006. Iraqi women are also denied the right to pass on their nationality to children born outside Iraq on an equal basis with Iraqi men. We are also concerned about the exemption from punishment under the Iraqi Penal Code of offenders, including rapists, who marry their victims and the suggested amendments to the Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959 which would encourage polygamy and child marriage.
Submitted by: Equality Now, the Baghdad Women Association (BWA), the Iraqi Woman’s League, the Coalition of Women MPs from Arab Countries to Combat Violence against Women, and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights.