Iraq is about to pass a law that will allow men to marry nine-year-old girls.

Iraq's parliament is preparing to vote on a law that will allow men in the country to marry children as young as nine.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Right now the legal age is 18, thanks to the Personal Status Law which was introduced in 1959, (and considered one of the most progressive stances in the Middle East, might we add).

But proposed amendments to the law, that've been gaining momentum for a while, will rewind the rights of women and children in a number of devastating ways.

Watch: The effects of child marriage. Post continues after video.

Not only will the age of consent be dropped, the amendment would also remove women's rights to divorce, child custody and inheritance.

The move is a strict interpretation of Islamic law, and is a change Shia parties in Iraq have been attempting to make for many years.

They failed in both 2014 and 2017, but in 2024 they have a parliamentary majority.

The second reading of the amendment happened in September, despite female MPs and opponents raising concerns that none of their recommendations had been taken into account. But the Iraqi Supreme Court ruled that the amendments were aligned with the country's constitution.

As Dr Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at Chatham House told the Telegraph of next steps, "the amendment will go before parliament for a vote… it could come at any moment".

There is already a loophole in the law that allows religious leaders instead of the courts to officiate marriages, which is allowing men to marry 15-year-old's with their father's permission.

The Shia coalition has repeatedly claimed that the point of the law is intended to protect girls from what they consider "immoral relationships".

But to be clear, what it will do is legalise child rape and abolish women's rights within marriage.

Iraqi women have held protests outside parliament, with Heba al-Dabbouni telling The Associated Press, "Legislating a law that brings back the country 1,500 years is a shameful matter … and we will keep rejecting it until the last breath".

Amnesty International said in a statement, "Not only does child marriage deprive girls of their education, but married girls are more vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse, and health risks related to early pregnancy.

"It is alarming that these amendments to the Personal Status Law are being pushed so vehemently when completely different urgent legal reforms are needed to protect Iraqi women and girls' rights".

It's just the latest in Iraq's conservative changes. Earlier this year, they made same-sex relationships punishable with up to 15 years in prison, and last year they ruled that media outlets had to replace the term homosexuality with "sexual deviance".

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Feature image: Getty/Scott Peterson.