Response to interpellation 2024/25:238 on the risk of legalization of child marriage in Iraq

Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! Lotta Johnsson Fornarve has asked me what I am doing to raise the issue of child marriage in Iraq in light of the proposed law amendment currently being discussed in Iraq. Lotta Johnsson Fornarve has also asked whether I intend to summon Iraq's ambassador to protest against the proposed law amendment and whether I intend to act on the issue in international bodies.

Like many others - not least many people in Iraq - I share Lotta Johnsson Fornarves concern regarding the possible legislative changes being discussed in Iraq. The proposed changes have led to protests within Iraq, and even here in Sweden, the issue has rightly been noticed. I note that in this situation, there is great uncertainty regarding how the changes in the laws may be designed as well as when they may be decided.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is following the issue closely, not least through cooperation with other EU countries that are present in Baghdad. My colleagues at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs have, in dialogue with the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, conveyed our strong views. Also in Baghdad, the EU and its member states have conveyed the EU's view on the bill. We will continue to monitor the issue in close cooperation with the EU and other partners.

At the upcoming review of Iraq within the framework of the UN's Universal Periodic Review - Universal Periodic Review - in the UN Human Rights Council, which will take place in Geneva in January 2025, there will be an opportunity for Sweden and other member states to engage in dialogue with Iraq on this important issue.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer to my interpellation! I am not entirely satisfied with the answer but still think there is some positive in it.

Iraqi society is scarred after many years of armed conflicts. Over one million people have not been able to return to their homes. Women are particularly vulnerable, and if the changes to Law 188 from 1959 - that is, the law on personal status - which are currently being discussed in Iraq's parliament are passed, the situation for Iraq's women and girls will deteriorate dramatically. This must be prevented.

Iraq's parliament is considering a legislative change to give religious councils control over matters concerning marriage and inheritance instead of these being regulated by state laws. This could seriously affect fundamental human rights, especially for women and girls. Iraq is considering allowing child marriage and making it legal to marry off girls as young as nine years old. It is a clear violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and children's inherent right to be children.

It is good that the Foreign Minister shares my concern regarding the possible legislative changes that are underway. That there is a certain uncertainty regarding the design means that it is extra important at the current moment, with all available means at our disposal, to push to stop the bill. There is currently an active effort from the proponents of the laws, who are trying to get the proposal through in the Iraqi parliament.

Here I expect more from the Swedish government. It is not enough to follow the developments; here, the minister must personally take a stand and convey his views directly to the Iraqi embassy. Of course, it is good to raise the issue in the UN Human Rights Council, but much more needs to be done.

No children should be forced to marry. When girls and children are forced into marriage, they are deprived of their education, and the risk of sexual and physical abuse increases dramatically. Early pregnancies often become a consequence, which means danger to their lives and health.

The legislative change that is now about to pass in Iraq would open the door to legalizing child marriages. Today, all marriages must take place through the court in order to prevent forced marriages or religious marriages. Everyone who marries must register with a judge in court. With the legislative change that is now being discussed, the aim is to give the power over marriages to religious leaders and imams. This means, as I said earlier, that girls as young as nine years old can be forced to marry.

Iraq must uphold and protect the rights of girls and women and not take away the rights they have today. The rest of the world cannot stand by while the rights of girls and women are seriously deteriorating.

Sweden has a responsibility to ensure that all countries follow the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which explicitly prohibits child marriage. Sweden must raise its voice in all international contexts, for example in the EU and the UN, and forcefully protest against these serious violations of girls' and women's rights. Sweden must also convey the criticism directly to the Iraqi representation here in Sweden. Sweden must stand up for human rights everywhere in the world, regardless of where they are violated. It is particularly important to stand up for children's rights.

Will the Minister summon a representative from the Iraqi embassy to protest clearly against this legislative change, and will more powerful actions be taken in various international contexts to stop this legislation?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)

Madam Speaker! I would like to thank the interpellor for highlighting this issue. Child marriage is a horrific phenomenon, which means that the child is deprived of their childhood. One can also call child marriage what it actually is: institutionalized pedophilia.

It is equally important to talk about the ideology that stands behind the legitimization of child marriage. That ideology is Islamism. The same ideology exists in Sweden, and it is important to combat this ideology wherever it may be located in the world.

Unfortunately, one cannot say that Vänsterpartiet has countered Islamism in Sweden. We have even had an Islamist who represented Miljöpartiet in a Swedish government. If one seriously wants to counter child marriages and other anti-human proposals driven by Islamists, one must take a stand against Islamism and pursue the fight against Islamism consistently.

The Iraqi government is an Islamist government. Iraq actually has two larger blocs competing for government power: the Islamists who are hostile towards Iran and the Islamists who are friendly towards Iran. Right now, it is the Islamists who are friendly towards Iran who are in power. It is precisely for that reason that we have a situation where child marriage, or institutionalized pedophilia, is being legitimized in the country.

Let us describe in detail what this is about, so that the general public understands. The legislative change that would legitimize child marriages simply means that the marriages established by imams in Iraq would be recognized, so the problem here is actually that representatives of the religion Islam in Iraq justify pedophilia.

The question then becomes: Is Vänsterpartiet prepared to condemn Islam's representatives in Iraq? The fundamental problem here is that Islamic communities in Iraq generally enable child marriage. Is Vänsterpartiet prepared to criticize Islam?

There are possibly those who say that this is not about Islam but about legislators in Iraq who want to legalize child marriage. One might think so, but the fact is that the prophet Muhammad, who is considered by the world's Muslims to be the perfect human being, married a nine-year-old. And those in the Muslim world who argue for child marriage refer to the hadiths, which say that the prophet Muhammad married a nine-year-old.

This is therefore not just a political problem. It also requires a critique of Islam, Islamic theology, and how people still today refuse to criticize that the prophet Muhammad married a nine-year-old. It must be stated in mosques that what the prophet Muhammad did with the nine-year-old Aisha was wrong.

The question is whether the Left Party is prepared to criticize this today in this chamber. Is the Left Party prepared to stand behind the fact that it was objectionable that the prophet Muhammad married a nine-year-old, or is the Left Party still too apprehensive to criticize child marriage? One must, however, start there. Those who are now trying to legalize child marriage in Iraq refer to what the prophet Muhammad did and argue that it is their right as Muslims to enter into child marriages. They also refer to freedom of religion, and in that case, one must criticize the religion itself. Is the Left Party prepared to criticize Islam?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Sara Gille (SD)

Madam Speaker! Child marriage is one of the grossest violations of children's rights and a clear violation of human rights. That adult men even want to marry small children is repulsive, but equally appalling is that parents consider marrying off their own children. Often, these children are used as pawns in business, where marriage becomes a transaction rather than a matter of love or respect for the individual's rights.

When Iraq's parliament is now considering a legislative change that could make it legal to marry off girls as young as nine years old, it naturally awakens justified anger and concern. It is a development that Sweden must distance itself from strongly, and I hope that the current government clearly stands on the girls' side. I can state today that we Sverigedemokrater definitely stand on the girls' side - always and without exception.

But, Madam Speaker, let us at the same time not turn a blind eye to an uncomfortable truth. It is difficult to take the Left Party's outrage seriously, especially considering their history. The Left Party has been one of the loudest voices for more open borders and a migration policy that lacked elements of value-based requirements. It is that policy that has made it possible that we in Sweden today see honor-related norms and values flourish, which this government is now working vigorously to curb.

Vänsterpartiet is also a party that for decades has had close dealings with regimes and organizations around the world that have directly or indirectly legitimized child marriage and oppression of women.

We can, for example, see how Vänsterpartiet over the years has supported cooperation with actors in the Middle East and other parts of the world, where the same values as those the party now criticizes have been part of everyday life. While they speak about children's rights here at home, they have internationally often turned a blind eye to, and in some cases even legitimized, regimes and movements that oppress women and children in the name of religion.

Madam Speaker! Thanks to the Sweden Democrats, we now have a government that has been clear about combating honor culture and that stands up for the rights of women and children both here at home and internationally. We have focused on measures to prevent child marriages, strengthened the justice system's ability to prosecute crimes linked to honor, and ensured that zero tolerance towards child marriage is a given in Swedish foreign policy.

This, Madam Speaker, is feminist foreign policy, in contrast to the so-called feminist foreign policy that the previous government pursued and which in reality was empty words.

Through our foreign policy, we clearly signal against regimes that consider restricting the rights of children and women, and unlike other parties, we do this without turning away our gaze to please anyone.

With this said, it is clear that the government takes this issue seriously. Sweden has a long tradition of raising human rights in international forums, and our hope is that the Foreign Minister will work in both the UN and the EU to counter this development in Iraq.

At the same time, the Left Party should reflect on its own policy and how it has contributed to making Sweden an arena where just such medieval values have been able to gain a foothold.

I would like to take the opportunity to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs: How does the government ensure that Sweden's work in the UN and the EU marks not only against legislative proposals like this in Iraq but also against the actors who legitimize and contribute to the oppression of girls and women globally, regardless of what ideological connections they have?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! Since the government took office, we have been extremely clear regarding the importance of women's and girls' freedom, rights, and empowerment both in Sweden and around the world. Sweden is and shall continue to be a strong voice for equality and for women's and girls' full enjoyment of human rights. This also applies in Iraq.

The changes in family law that are now being discussed are examples of how customs and norms limit the lives of women, girls, and boys. The government has conveyed our view on the bill both in contacts and through the EU, and we have also done so directly to Iraqi representatives.

The Iraqi bill has rightly been criticized for several reasons, not least because it is expected to worsen the rights of women and girls in areas such as legal marriage age, divorce, and inheritance.

It is important to highlight that the bill has met with strong and loud opposition in Iraq. Both political parties and civil society have reacted. Human rights activists, opinion leaders, and citizens have made their voices heard. The government welcomes that such a debate is being conducted in Iraq.

Both Sweden and the EU have reacted in different ways and expressed concern over the consequences of the bill. UD has communicated the government's views and concerns regarding the proposed amendments to Iraqi representatives through Iraq's chargé d'affaires in Stockholm. We assess that we achieve the best results through such direct dialogue.

The EU has been very active and has underlined to Iraqi representatives the importance of living up to the commitments the country has made by ratifying central conventions on human rights.

Iraq will, as I said earlier, soon be reviewed within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review in the UN Human Rights Council. This will therefore be another forum for dialogue with Iraq on this and other important issues concerning the rights of women and girls. The Government is, in other words, acting both nationally and through the EU and the UN to promote the rights of women and girls in Iraq in every way possible.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)

Madam Speaker! I thank you for the further answer.

I want to start by saying to the Sweden Democrats that you, as usual, are trying to use your racism against Muslims to attack immigrants. It shows your racism. Vänsterpartiet stands up for all people's equal value. We stand up for freedom of religion. We stand up for and are proud that we still stand up for a generous refugee and asylum policy. Do not try to make this into anything other than what it is!

We stand up for human rights and defend them everywhere they are violated, not least when it concerns children. Child marriage is a violation of human rights and contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Child marriage means that children under 18 are married off, often against their will and to someone who is older.

A majority of those who are married off are girls. Their chance to decide for themselves over their own bodies and their lives decreases. The girls who are married off as children are affected by maternal mortality, sexually transmitted diseases, and domestic violence to a greater extent than those who marry after they have turned 18.

The UN member states have, in their global goal number 5, decided that child marriage shall be abolished by 2030 at the latest. Sweden has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and also introduced it as law in the country. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is a very important part of international law, and when the Convention on the Rights of the Child is violated, it is every country's responsibility to protest.

The bill that is currently being drafted in Iraq - Law 188/1959 on personal status - contains, in addition to the possibility of child marriage, several proposals that would complicate and change the lives of girls and women. As a result of the bill, family matters, including marriage, divorce, and child custody, would in practice fall under religious courts rather than under civil courts, as is the case today. This we are, of course, opposed to.

That we are for freedom of religion does not mean that we believe that religion should govern the rule of law. This is what we are against. It should, of course, be civil courts that do so.

If the bill passes, the violence against women and girls risks increasing and the development regarding women's and girls' rights risks deteriorating significantly. Already today, more than half a million women in Iraq live with a high risk of being subjected to gender-related violence.

The proposal would violate Iraq's international obligations regarding the fundamental rights of women and girls and lead to a significant setback for equality in the country.

It is important that the world supports women's rights in Iraq and women's organizations that work to counter the growing threat. Unfortunately, Sweden has decided to withdraw the support that has, among other things, gone to supporting the UN agency UNFPA in their work to, among other things, give women and girls access to healthcare as well as strengthen women's rights, prevent gender-based violence, and give women and youth the opportunity to engage politically and demand democratic space. It is deeply regrettable. We should instead increase the support to UNFPA's important work for women's and girls' rights.

Sweden must, where possible at the current moment, act with force to protest. I heard the minister say several positive things, but I believe even more is required. We must act with even more force in international bodies such as the EU and the UN to prevent Iraq from introducing legislation that would give religious councils control over issues concerning, among other things, marriage and inheritance, which could mean that child marriage is permitted.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)

Madam Speaker! Part of the issue we are discussing today concerns politicians in Iraq who, on Islamist grounds, want to legalize child marriage. Another part of the issue actually concerns Islam. Child marriage would not exist in Iraq at all if there were no imams officiating marriages between men and children. These imams justify their actions by referring to the prophet Muhammad, who married a nine-year-old.

Of course Sweden can voice some form of protest against Iraq, but as long as the prophet Muhammad's actions are not criticized within the Muslim world, many Muslims will continue to legitimize child marriage. An important part of this, therefore, is about the religion Islam and having the right to criticize it and condemn the parts that need to be condemned.

That the prophet Muhammad married a nine-year-old needs to be condemned. If one is not prepared to condemn the prophet Muhammad's child marriage, it is difficult to condemn all other Muslims who marry children. I ask the interpellator if the Vänsterpartiet is prepared to condemn the prophet Muhammad's marriage to the nine-year-old Aisha. It is not just history. It is not just something that has happened. It is what some Muslims today refer to when they support child marriage. Is Vänsterpartiet prepared to condemn the prophet Muhammad?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Sara Gille (SD)

Madam Speaker! It is like hearing a pyromaniac complain about fires when the Left Party speaks about the importance of combating child marriage and religious oppression. The same party has, in fact, for decades built bridges to regimes and movements around the world that not only allow but actively encourage child marriage and honor oppression.

Vänsterpartiet has had political relations with actors who in different ways legitimize religious laws and values that set human rights aside. They have turned a blind eye to honor culture and religiously motivated abuses when it has suited their ideological agenda. This hypocrisy is not only offensive; it also undermines Sweden's credibility when we as a nation are to act on the global stage. It has made it possible for the values that Vänsterpartiet now criticizes to flourish both in Sweden and in relations with international actors.

Highlighting Iraq's legislative proposals in the Riksdag is of course very important, but it sits poorly with the fact that the Left Party is a party that has often turned a blind eye to the consequences of its own policy. The government, together with the Sweden Democrats, stands for a foreign policy where we clearly take a stand against countries that threaten children's rights. We have introduced stricter laws against child marriage and zero tolerance for honor-based oppression, and we have a foreign policy that clearly takes a stand against religiously motivated abuses. Unlike the Left Party's empty words, this government actually delivers change.

Madam Speaker! The Left Party should perhaps take responsibility for its own policy and admit how their enthusiasm for cultural relativism has contributed to normalizing values that we today are forced to combat both here at home and on the international arena. Sweden deserves better than symbolic politics and empty rhetoric.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! Through aid, the government prioritizes human rights, democracy, sexual and reproductive health, sexual and reproductive rights, and the work against all forms of sexual and gender-related violence. Equality and human rights are important parts of Sweden's aid strategies, even in the Middle East.

Part of the Swedish aid is channeled in the form of core support to UN agencies on the ground in Iraq, for example, the UN Population Fund UNFPA and the UN Children's Fund Unicef. The UN system in Iraq has prioritized the issue of the proposed legislative changes in family law, and a dialogue is being conducted with Iraqi authorities at the highest level through the UN Secretary-General's special envoy to Iraq. The UN agencies also have contact with parliamentarians, civil society organizations, academia, religious leaders, and other relevant actors.

I mentioned earlier that the government prioritizes women's and girls' freedom, rights, and empowerment both in Sweden and in other countries. Even though this interpellation debate is about possible legislative changes in Iraq, I would like to take the opportunity to mention something about what the government is doing in this area here at home, because it is connected. It was also Sara Gille who spoke earlier.

The Government has, as part of the work to combat honor-related violence and oppression, tasked a special investigator to review a number of criminal and civil law issues in order to sharpen the focus on honor-related violence and oppression. The investigation looks, among other things, at the problem of children being taken to other countries for the purpose of being subjected to child marriage crimes. Another investigation has proposed that failure to disclose or prevent forced and child marriages should be criminalized. This is now being prepared in the Government Offices. In other words, the Government continues to act nationally and internationally and with various instruments to strengthen the protection, rights, and participation of women and girls in society.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Lotta Johnsson Fornarve (V)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for further answers!

To the Sweden Democrats, I want to say again that the Sweden Democrats are a racist party that portrays immigrants, in particular Muslims, as the great threat and the cause of almost all problems in society. Such things tear a society apart. It is such politics that sets people against each other. We should not have such a society. The Left Party has always stood up for human rights and been the first to protest when human rights are violated, regardless of where it happens in the world.

I perceive a positive attitude from the Minister's side regarding acting on the important issue we have now debated, which concerns the introduction of legislation in Iraq that could mean that child marriage is permitted. This must, of course, absolutely not happen.

I still believe that it is very important to be clear. The Minister should call a representative from the Iraqi embassy and protest clearly and distinctly against the proposed law amendment, which would mean that one would not only allow child marriages but also make it more difficult for women to request a divorce, for example. It is also about other family law issues. Women and girls would face a much more difficult situation in Iraq. Iraq would also violate several of the conventions that one has actually signed, for example the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We must act with even more force in bodies such as the EU and the UN to prevent this law proposal from becoming a reality.

Thank you for the debate!

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Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)

Madam Speaker! I would like to conclude by simply thanking you for an important debate on a very important issue. The Government takes this very seriously, and I naturally hope that the concern and the protests expressed from many different places around the world will also yield results. Women's and girls' rights are central parts of human rights. To safeguard them is a Swedish core value, a Swedish interest, and an indispensable part of Sweden's foreign policy.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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