Patriarchal Societal Mentality or Religion: Who is Behind the Obstruction of the Legislation of the “Child Protection” Law?

With the first threads of dawn, dozens of children gather at the “garbage collection” centre near the Al-Obour neighbourhood, west of Mosul (405 km from Baghdad), waiting for municipal garbage trucks to dump their loads there. Then, they begin to dig through the garbage, searching for anything that can be eaten or sold like water bottles, soft drink cans, plastic materials, iron fragments, and anything else.

The 13-year-old boy, Jamal Ghanem, has not missed this appointment for approximately three years. This is because his family moved from the “Al-Salamiyah” camp for ISIS war refugees, east of Mosul, to a modest, unfinished house in the Al-Obour slum neighbourhood. In exchange, they pay a small monthly rent, which Jamal, his three older brothers, and their mother earn through their work on the street.

Jamal does not remember his father, and all he knows is that his father was a cab driver killed in mid-2011 by a roadside bomb explosion near his car in the western neighbourhood of Mosul. According to his mother, the explosive device was targeting a convoy of US army vehicles passing nearby at the time.

Jamal is among tens of thousands of orphans affected by years of bloody violence, categorised within a large segment of the country’s underprivileged children due to their families’ poverty. He is also a victim of the state’s inadequacy in safeguarding and providing for its children, even when it legislates a law that gives them, albeit ostensibly, rights to a decent life and protection if they are exposed to violence, according to activists in the field of children’s rights.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Planning, Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, confirmed that more than a million Iraqi children are deprived of nutrition, health care, and education. Many of them have been coerced by their families into the workforce due to their extreme poverty. He states that, “various studies have shown the existence of gender discrimination in educational and recreational fields, particularly in rural regions. Protecting these children is a responsibility borne by both the state and the society.”

However, achieving such protection seems impossible in light of factors such as security instability, unemployment, poverty and corruption that hinder childhood support programs. Additionally, with the presence of a patriarchal societal mentality that does not allow intervention to prevent the persecution of children within families, especially in the absence of deterrent laws against domestic violence.

Legacy of years of violence

The severe security instability in the country ensued after the fall of the Ba’ath Party regime in 2003. This period saw the emergence of “armed resistance factions” opposing the American presence, as well as the growing activity of armed religious groups and the war aimed at eliminating them until the summer of 2017. The presence of armed religious militias caused the death of tens of thousands of Iraqis, leaving numerous widows and orphans in its wake.

In conjunction with a full interruption of investment projects and an almost total stoppage of agricultural and industrial activities in the country, these conflicts and recurrent cycles of bloodshed were accompanied by pervasive corruption in state institutions. As a result, certain governorates saw a 40% increase in unemployment. Consequently, poverty expanded widely, forcing financially struggling families to compel their kids to work for their sustenance.

Jamal uses a small wooden push cart to take the items he collects to his home. His mother assists him in sorting them, and once the goods are weighed, they are delivered to merchants and transporters who have trucks waiting at designated locations close to their residential area. This is an area with a variety of pollution sources, and services are almost nonexistent. Then he heads back to the garbage dump for another nighttime dig. On some days, he goes with one of his brothers to the side of the public road to sell bottles of “car gasoline”.

The boy, whose skin is dark due to the hot sun, says that he dreams of becoming a famous football player; he is passionate about the sport, which is his sole source of joy, hoping it will lift his family out of poverty. Pushing his cart, he gazes with uncertainty in his eyes, saying, “But I don’t know if they will accept me without a school certificate?”

Children are victims

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced in a statement released in June 2023 that more than 9,000 Iraqi children were murdered or maimed between 2008 and the end of 2022, at an average rate of one or more children being injured or harmed daily. The statement did not rule out the possibility that the actual number could be higher, as the provided figures are based on verified cases, indicating that there might be many unreported cases.

The statement quoted UNICEF Representative in Iraq, Shema Sen Gupta, emphasising the need for the reintegration of children in Iraq “after many years of conflicts, including children returning from northeastern Syria (Al-Hawl camp), children believed to be affiliated wih armed groups, and other children at risk.”

The international organisation, through its statement, called on the Iraqi government to “support and enforce international laws and standards aimed at protecting children in war, holding perpetrators of child rights violations accountable, and intensifying important resources to fund child protection in conflict with the required scale and urgency.”

Abdul Salam Ghazi, a social research specialist, questions the figures provided by the United Nations or the Iraqi Ministry of Planning regarding the counts of child victims or those deprived of their rights. He says that the Ministry of Planning’s estimates for 2023 show a population of over 43 million people living in Iraq, with forty percent of them being under the age of fifteen.

He says: “During the years of violence, about three million people were displaced from their areas, losing their basic livelihood resources. They lived in difficult humanitarian and service conditions, with more than a third of them likely being children.”

He adds, “Many of these children were born before and during the significant wave displacement in mid-2014 when ISIS controlled nearly a third of the country. They found themselves trapped in temporary camps, deprived of their most basic rights to health and education. A large portion of them moved several times with their families from one place to another, negatively impacting their well-being.”

He mentioned that due to extreme poverty, reached record levels in some governorates, such as Al-Muthanna (52%) and Maysan (48%), along with the security deterioration marked by the escalation of armed violence in 2006 leading to the war against ISIS in 2017, as well as families losing their breadwinners or their property, tens of thousands of families were forced to rely on all their members to secure a livelihood. This included children who left formal education and entered the labour market.

The researcher noted that the Iraqi government has taken measures to address the issue of child labour, as outlined in Article 52 of the General Budget Law for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025. These measures involve providing students from families covered by the social protection network with a monthly financial grant of thirty thousand dinars, approximately equivalent to $23.

He added: “However, this falls short. The Iraqi Council of Representatives should enact legislation to protect children from abuse, both inside and outside the home, and safeguard them from exploitation and forced labour. Additionally, a law forbidding children from dropping out of school before a specific age, such as sixteen, needs to be implemented.”

All of this is contingent on: “achieving economic stability to curb poverty.” Without this, researcher Abdul Salam believes that many children in Iraq will remain deprived of their rights, particularly their childhood rights.

Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Education Committee, Mahmoud Hussein Al-Qaisi, further confirmed that the student grant was limited to families registered within the social protection program. He noted that the allocations, “that have not been disbursed so far,” were included in the 2023 budget. The grant amount is determined according to the provisions of the Law on Grants for Students of Public Schools No. (3) of 2014 and the Law of Scholarship for Students of Iraqi Government Universities and Institutes No. (63) of 2012, utilising allocations from the Ministries of Education and Higher Education.

In a legislative environment marked by corruption and lacking laws to ensure workers’ rights, numerous experts and advocates for children’s rights consider the practice of sending children into the workforce a form of violence. Many of these children are exposed to various types of exploitation, including sexual violence as well as physical and psychological abuse. This has a serious negative impact on their future, as it deprives them of an education and, consequently, any chance to improve their professional prospects.

Suspended protection law

Civil activist Hana Adwar, leading an organisation advocating for women’s and children’s rights, emphasised the need for new legislation to safeguard families and children in light of societal changes in Iraq. She verified that, despite the urgency, both the Domestic Violence Law nor the Draft Law for Child Protection, presented to the House of Representatives in 2015 by the Iraqi government, remain unapproved.

She says: “There are voices in the House of Representatives who oppose the legislation of the two laws because they will undermine the patriarchal authority within the family.” Then she explained: “By patriarchal authority, I mean that power in the home is entirely in the hands of the head of the family, and he controls it however he wants. This idea gives rise to many crimes, such as the marriage of underage girls, deprivation of education, health and psychological care, and forced work.”

Social researcher Dr. Waad Ibrahim Khalil agrees with Adwar that Iraqi society is inherently “a patriarchal society that empowers the man, whether he is the father or husband, allowing him in one way or another to use violence against children, who are naturally the most socially vulnerable group.”

However, he doubts the effectiveness of any legislation in altering such ingrained customs passed down through generations, particularly those related to power dynamics within families. Considering the deep-rooted and multifaceted causes of violence in Iraqi culture, he thinks it “will be challenging for the proposed child protection law to handle every instance of violence against children in the country. In Iraq, it is common to use physical punishment or other forms of material or moral punishment to discipline a child.”

Therefore, Dr. Waad believes it is impossible for society to accept the law, thus limiting its applicability, “because the law violates the inherited social upbringing.”

Is the impediment to the adoption of a child protection law in Iraq genuinely rooted in patriarchal power in the country? Lawyer Ali Younis responded to this question, stating that each community has distinct traits. Tribalism and “the apparent religiosity of the individual in general” are prevalent features in Iraqi society. He says that these two factors (religious and tribal) prevent the legislation pertaining to family and children.

He adds, “Most members of the House of Representatives have national, tribal or religious backgrounds, so it is extremely challenging to legislate laws that contradict their ideologies and orientations. They will work diligently to obstruct them or amend them to align with their  accustomed beliefs.”

He does, however, think that laws prohibiting child labour could be effectively implemented by enforcing rigorous oversight through the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and imposing substantial fines on employers who hire minors, particularly for jobs that pose hazards and are not commensurate with their age and physical capabilities.

Lawyer Ali Younis points out that there are many risks resulting from the presence of children on the streets instead of in schools, “not only in the long term, but even at present.” Many court cases are observed related to the exploitation of children in drug trafficking, as they are usually far from suspicion and the supervision of security services.”

The specialised health centres have recorded cases of narcotic pill addiction among children aged 10 to 15 years, “signifying an imminent danger facing Iraqi society if rapid and effective measures are not taken to confront the problem.”

The Iraqi Council of Representatives had initially discussed a draft of the child protection law in its eighth session, which was held in Baghdad on November 6, 2022. The draft included 14 articles, with the first article defining the child’s age as under 18 years. The law’s objectives, outlined in its second article, aimed firstly “to ensure a free, safe, and dignified life for the child” and secondly, “to secure necessary protection for the child from all forms of violence, physical and psychological abuse, neglect, or exploitation.”

Thirdly, the law aims to “prohibit child trafficking, slavery, coercion into work, exploitation in any way, involvement in armed conflicts, or exploitation in prostitution, sexual and pornographic activities, for any purpose.”

Despite ten months passing since the first discussion, the House of Representatives delayed presenting the second discussion to proceed with the law’s approval, raising doubts about the possible postponement of its approval to future sessions amid the opposition to some of its provisions, despite the growing number of recorded violations against children (based on data from the Ministry of Interior). However, the project was not postponed, according to sources from the Council, and the delay occurred due to extensive negotiations to amend some articles and paragraphs objected to in the Council.

The sources also confirmed that the Parliamentary Women, Family and Childhood Committee is holding meetings to discuss the draft law. The Media Department of the House of Representatives had previously announced a meeting regarding the project on May 22, 2023, attended by legal advisors who provided modification suggestions, including emphasising “the need to focus on definitions, specify what constitutes violence, its causes, and the prescribed penalties.”

According to a source in the House of Representatives, who requested anonymity, Iraq ratified the International Convention on the Rights of the Child in June 1994 and is now obligated to enact child protection legislation. This law will undoubtedly be issued, “but there are those who do not want its provisions to contradict with Iraqi societal norms, particularly concerning children’s complaints against parents and other issues.”

Iraq was ranked 163 out of 189 countries in the 2021 Kids Rights Index, an organisation advocating for and helping children worldwide, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. According to its recommendations, Iraq, with over five million children, faces challenges due to weak institutional frameworks protecting their rights. The current institutions are below the necessary standards and are part of other non-independent entities, like those in health, education, and culture.

In Iraq, the focus should be on qualitative education rather than quantitative, ensuring it meets the required level. Additionally, children in Iraq face challenges in accessing adequate healthcare, necessitating efforts to enhance the children’s health sector by providing necessary hospitals and staff.

Finally, efforts should be directed towards fostering a culture that recognizes the child as a human being entitled to rights that must be provided and protected. This involves working to enhance the legal, judicial and security system responsible for protecting children’s rights.

The director of the Child Welfare Commission’s office, Ghada Mohsen Al-Rafii, stated in press releases that the enrollment rate for primary school in 2023 reached 89%. This implies that 11% of children are either dropouts or have never been enrolled, with estimates from experts suggesting this figure may exceed one million children.

She mentioned that despite Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani overseeing the Child Welfare Commission, there is a deficiency in implementing the law related to childhood issues. She emphasised that the commission is working towards legislating the Child Protection Law, particularly given the international agreements that compel Iraq to enact legislation for children.

Incomplete Procedures

Hassan Abdel-Sahib, official of the Anti-Child Labour Division in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, stated that his division has inspection committees assigned to monitor child labour on a daily basis in the labor markets of Baghdad and the governorates. He draws attention to the fact that these committees keep an eye on minors and youngsters under the legal age in line with Labour Law No. 37 of 2015’s Article 7, which “prohibits child labour.”

He stated that many children monitored in the labour market want to return to school, and the matter was discussed with the Ministry of Education during the current year as well as the previous years.

According to an employee at the Ministry of Labour, who requested to remain anonymous, inspection committees lack the authority to compel employers to forbid the employment of children, particularly when the employer is the child’s patron. In many marketplaces, these committees often engage in routine activities that yield no discernible outcomes. This is evident in the streets teeming with children engaged in various activities such as “street vending, working in mechanical workshops within industrial complexes and food stores, begging, and underage girls involved in brothels and nightclubs.”

He mentions that this is applicable within the city, but in villages and rural areas, “it is natural for children to engage in herding work and assisting in fields and orchards, and the committees never reach them. Even if they do, they will encounter a tribal authority stronger than the authority of the law,” as he expressed it.

He pointed out that according to Article 7 of Labour Law No. 37 of 2015, “the minimum working age in the Republic of Iraq is fifteen years.” However, in reality, there are children even younger than this age who can be observed in the labour market.

Among them is Zaid Mukhles (12 years old), who works in a food store owned by his uncle in Sadr City, the capital, Baghdad. The uncle explains that his brother passed away four years ago, leaving three children, including Zaid. He adds, “Having him in my shop, in our neighbourhood, is better than him being on the street. Here, he will develop his skills, learn how to interact with people, acquire a trade to make a living, and assist his family.”

Then he concludes, “I not only provide him with work but also protection. It would take him many years to study for a degree, and even then, he might not find a job. I offer him a job without requiring any degree!”

*  This article received support and supervision from the Network of Iraqi Reporters for Investigative Journalism (NIRIJ) and the “North Africa and West Asia Investigations Support Fund.”