Based on the religious structure that governs Iran, puberty and the beginning of the first menstruation in girls are considered as the threshold of transition from childhood to adulthood. Reaching this physical and biological threshold means a person’s suitability and eligibility for marriage.Regardless of the real age and ability to manage marital life in some developing countries early marriage is considered an economic measure that can improve the economic status of the family. Although the title of child marriage is assigned to both sides of marriage, i.e. young girls and boys, but the bitter reality of the society shows that the consequences and effects of child marriage are much more serious and dangerous for the girls.
Child marriage or early marriage is a marriage in which, in most cases, a person before reaching the age of 18 is forced by his parents or protector to enter into a marriage contract and start marital life.Fieldward for the research An Echo of Silence
Such coercion usually involves girls being forced to marry older adult men due to cultural and ethnic traditions or family economic and livelihood problems.For two years, Kameel Ahmady began researching child marriage in societies where female genital mutilation is common. During this time, he investigated and studied the seven provinces of Razavi Khorasan, East Azerbaijan, Khuzestan, Sistan and Baluchistan, West Azerbaijan, Hormozgan, and Isfahan based on the country’s official statistics and published the results of this research in Persian and English.From the point of view of a wide range of experts, child marriage affects and complicates children’s lives, causes health injuries and affects personality development, growth and development at all levels.For more information, please read the followings and other reports that are provided here:
Consequences of Child Marriage
In some developing countries, child marriage is considered an economic measure that can improve the family’s poor condition, strengthen family bonds and is also a guarantee for girls’ virginity before marriage, which controls their sexual desires and can prevent them from reaching girls to the age when their sexual attractions would ruin their capacity as a mother and a wife.On the other hand, complicated problems related to pregnancy and childbirth are one of the main reasons for the death of girls between the ages of 15 and 19.In addition,
such problems are the likely outcomes that expose girls to sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS.
Child Marriage Statistics in Iran
Although in the absence of independent and reliable studies on child marriage in Iran, little information is available on this topic, but according to the legal advisor of the judicial branch, the official and government statistics of Iran indicate that every year, between 500,000 and 600,000 children are married in Iran. And this statistic only refers to marriages that are officially registered and do not include those who marry informally.We currently have 14,000 child widows in the country, and according to the United Nations, 17% of marriages in Iran belong to people under the age of eighteen.Besides, it should be noted that in Iran, some men who have more than one wife do not officially register their second marriages including marriages with young wives and keep their marriages secret or unregistered.
Civil Struggles So Far
An Echo of Silence research study book
The scientific reason for conducting this research is to explain the evidence and prevalence of this traumatic practice in Iran and to help government decision-makers to focus on the immediate protection of children’s human rights.An Echo of Silence research study was an attempt to reveal and raise the issue of Child Marriage in Iran, which was considered by civil activists, government policymakers and some MPs and became the basis for presenting the plan to increase the minimum age of marriage for children, i.e. amending Article 1041 of the Civil Code of Iran.Although this plan was approved in the open court of parliament with urgency and with a majority of votes, it was unanimously rejected by the Legal and Judicial Commission of the same parliament.The results of the survey on child marriage, as well as the demands of civil society and calls for changes in the legislation, created a wave of awareness in the society, which led to civil society protests within two to three years. The civil society strongly prohibits child marriage, a requirement that remains in place to this day.
The ratio of child marriage to all marriages in the country
According to the research, the ratio of child marriage to total marriage has never been lower than 35% in the last decade.
What is the legal age of marriage in Iran? The Islamic religion has not specified an age requirement for marriage, but considers the age of religious maturity to be fifteen lunar years for boys and nine lunar years for girls, and believes that puberty provides them for marriage. According to Article 1041 of the Civil Code, ‘the marriage of a girl before the age of 13 and the boy before the age of 15 is subject to the permission of the guardian, provided that the best interests are determined by the competent court.’ However, it has commonly been observed that girls are married at the age of nine.
What is child marriage or early marriage? According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), child marriage is a formal or informal marriage in which a person enters into a marital contract before the age of 18, generally the term “child marriage” applies to the children of a girl who marries older men for coercion from ethnic traditions or family economic problems, although the number of girls who marry boys who are a few years older is not low.
What are the consequences of child marriage? Marrying at a young age has adverse effects on the psychological development of children, especially girls. Most of the child spouses have a weak socio-economic origin and the marriage bond is a transaction between them for the families to manage and eliminate a ‘bread-eating’ member of the family through such measures as asking the man to pay for the girl and their minimum financial support is realized. Marrying at a young age has consequences such as the following: dropping out of school, shortening the childhood period, bearing the burden of marriage at a young age with minimal experience, getting involved in everyday tensions as a result of the lack of emotional maturity and lack of interaction skills, remaining under the involvement of others, lack of experience for the responsibility of motherhood, the possibility of experiencing sexual violence, early pregnancy, death during childbirth due to lack of biological development, despair and hopelessness due to the dominance of others over life affairs, the regret of the parties after gaining a better understanding of each other and the social world, becoming a widow at an early age, and many others.
What are the solutions to prevent child marriage? Changing the legal age of marriage to 18 years, amending the laws of temporary marriage, cultural and educational measures and enlightenment, mandatory and accurate registration of marriages, serious accountability of the government and coordination of related organizations to deal with child marriage, compulsory and free education especially in deprived areas, increasing awareness of the consequences and harms of child marriage through mass media and communication technologies, judicial and legal support from the judiciary to outlaw child marriage and determine heavy punishments for its practitioners, and finally using spiritual and religious figures as the most influential missionaries of social changes in this field.
Farsi (فارسی)
Kurdish (کوردی)
The scientific reason for conducting this research is to explain the evidence and prevalence of this traumatic practice in Iran and to help government decision-makers to focus on the immediate protection of children’s human rights.An Echo of Silence research study was an attempt to reveal and raise the issue of Child Marriage in Iran, which was considered by civil activists, government policymakers and some MPs and became the basis for presenting the plan to increase the minimum age of marriage for children, i.e. amending Article 1041 of the Civil Code of Iran.Although this plan was approved in the open court of parliament with urgency and with a majority of votes, it was unanimously rejected by the Legal and Judicial Commission of the same parliament.The results of the survey on child marriage, as well as the demands of civil society and calls for changes in the legislation, created a wave of awareness in the society, which led to civil society protests within two to three years. The civil society strongly prohibits child marriage, a requirement that remains in place to this day.
