Almost one-third of girls marry before they are 18, but a large number of unions end in abuse and failure. Now a new law could allow marriage from the age of nine

Huda* and her family, including two younger siblings, were living in poverty in the province of Anbar, in western Iraq, when she received an offer of marriage from the mother of a man who lived in the same neighbourhood. It seemed too good to turn down.

It also seemed the best hope for Huda, then 17, to finish school and fulfil her dream of one day becoming a lawyer. The mother told her she would treat her like one of her own.