NUR AL- MARSOUMİ 

Iraq- In Iraq, women still face challenges in obtaining their right to inheritance despite the existence law giving women equal inheritance rights. Their relatives use all kinds of means to make women give up their right to inheritance. 

‘We built a house on the land that we had our share’ 

S.J. and her mother have been subjected to oppression and threats by her uncles for using their rights to inheritance. After she lost her father in the Iran-Iraq war, her mother and she began to face problems with her uncles because they demanded her right to inheritance. “I spent my childhood at my grandparents’ house with my mother. They covered all my expenses.” After growing up, she worked and built a house on the land that she had her share. “I built a house and then began to live there with my mother. Then, my uncle started asking my mother to leave the house.” 

‘My mother and I had to get married due to pressure’ 

  S.J. had to marry one of her cousins due to the pressure she faced from her uncle. “My uncle began to put pressure on me after I gave birth to three. After my cousin, husband, killed one person from the tribe, we began to face problems with my uncle again. My mother also married an old man to get rid of pressure. However, my mother was threatened by my uncle to leave the house and give up her share. Due to the increasing pressure, my mother had to take a step back.” 

S.J. suffers from a tumor in the brain now. She asks for a divorce but her husband refuses. “I want to get a divorce; however, he refuses to attend the hearing. I could no longer bear the injustice. We face such challenges because we are women,” she told us. 

The 1959 Iraqi Law of Personal Status governs the manner that religious courts may settle disputes among Muslims living in Iraq about marriage, divorce, custody of children, inheritance, endowments and other similar religious matters. Article 89 of the Law of Personal Status says males shall receive twice the share of females. 

“Article 90 of the law was amended. The amended article says that the girl or girls, if there is no son for the deceased, shall be due the remaining estate, after the parents and the other husband receive their due share. The girls shall receive the entire estate when there is none of them. However, there are many men using all kinds of means to make women give up their right to inheritance,” said lawyer Nour Jawad Jassim. 

    ‘Law only remains on paper’ 

Talking about women’s rights to inheritance, human rights activist Maysam Ghani said, “There are many problems and obstacles regarding women's rights to inheritance. Many women face pressure to give up their rights. Although the Iraqi parliament approved imprisonment or a fine for whoever deprives women from their rights to inheritance, women still face challenges in obtaining their rights to inheritance. Law only