A law being considered in Iraq which has come under attack could lead to girls as young as eight getting married—and wives being forced to submit to sex at their husband’s every request.

Currently, the legal age for marriage in Iraq is 18, or 15 with a guardian’s approval and this could soon be changed if the law comes into force.

The controversial proposals have provoked outrage from activists both within Iraq and around the globe, who see it as a huge step backwards for women’s rights.

This law, aimed at creating different laws for Iraq’s majority Shiite population, could further fray the country’s divisions amid some of the worst sectarian bloodshed since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

According Hana Adwar, an Iraqi human rights activist, ‘That law represents a crime against humanity and childhood. Married underage girls are subjected to physical and psychological suffering.’

The proposed measure, known as the Jaafari Personal Status Law, there is no stipulated minimum age for marriage but there are rules regarding divorce for girls as young as eight.

Bizarrely, the age of the girls is measured according to the lunar Islamic calender, which is 10 to 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calender each year. If this difference is taken into account, the law talks about men divorcing children as young as eight years and eight months.

Though the bill talks about divorce instead of marriage, critics of the bill believe its authors slipped the age into the divorce section as a backhanded way to allow marriages of girls that young.