Iraqi’s Betrothed Is 11, Says State 28-Year-Old Man Says Iraqi Girl Is 16; Wedding On Hold Until Age Is Confirmed
An Iraqi man has postponed plans to marry a young girl from his own country after running into trouble from police, school officials and the state Child Protective Services.
The girl is 11 years old, according to school records and federal Immigration and Naturalization Service records.
She socializes with other seventh-graders at North Middle School in Everett.
But she and the 28-year-old man contend that she is really 16, the legal age of consent for sexual activity in Washington. After police interviewed the man for several hours Monday, he agreed to delay the wedding until he can persuade INS officials to change the girl’s records to show that she is 16, the Herald of Everett reported.
The wedding plans came to light last week when another student told a teacher about the upcoming marriage and it was reported to Child Protective Services as a case of child abuse, principal Gretchen Schaefer said.
The girl’s family immigrated about two years ago as refugees from Iraq, where arranged marriages between older men and young girls are commonplace. They’re part of an Iraqi community of about 500 people in Snohomish County.
“It’s been practiced for hundreds of years - it’s not out of the ordinary,” said Someireh Amirfaiz, director of an Edmonds-based international counseling service. Sexual relations may be delayed until the girl is older.
But Van Dinh-Kuno, director of a refugee agency at Everett Community College, who has worked with local Iraqis for five years, believes the marriage will not be celibate.
Dinh-Kuno said another Iraqi girl in the county was married and had a baby at age 13. Other girls under age 16 are married and living with their husbands, she said. Some of them have children, she added.
“Their mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers were married at 13 or 14 years old too,” she said.
A report for the Snohomish County prosecutor’s office last year noted the presence of arranged marriages for early teenage daughters in some ethnic groups. Because marriage licenses can’t legally be obtained, the families have been sanctioning these unions with “cultural” weddings.
Amirfaiz said leaders of local Muslim immigrants met a few weeks ago to discuss ways of making families understand the laws regarding marriage and girls.
“It’s becoming problematic,” she said. “The community has many strengths, but this is something that is sticking out, and it’s not a good reflection on the community.”