Early marriages threaten health and safety of girl children in Iran.
Official figures indicate that 180,000 early marriages take place in Iran every year and comprise 24 per cent of the total number of marriages.
“The largest number of registered marriages of 10-14 girl children was in 2014 which amounted to 40,229. The number of girl children under 10 who have gotten married was 220 in 2011; 187 in 2012; 201 in 2013; 176 in 2014; and 179 in 2015. These figures are probably higher because of unregistered marriages,” said Batool Salimi Manesh, a social researcher.
Salimi Manesh added, “As for the dispersal of child marriages in various cities, Razavi Khorasan Province (northeastern Iran) tops the list, followed by East Azerbaijan Province (northwestern Iran), and Sistan and Baluchestan (southeastern Iran). Of course, Lorestan Province (western Iran) also faces the problem of child marriages but their numbers are lower than other provinces and there is a long way before this phenomenon is uprooted.”
Mostafa Amani, general director of the Registrar of Lorestan Province, said there were 1,126 marriages of girl children under 15 in Lorestan province over the past year in that province.
Early marriages of girl children are one of the most vivid examples of child abuse.
One of the reasons for the high number of early marriages in Iran variable age of marriage sanctioned by the Iranian regime. The age of marriage can be decided by legal and religious authorities who oppose increasing of the legal age of marriage.
Other reasons include poverty and economic problems which compel low-income families to give their daughters to marriage in young age in a bid to resolve part of their economic problems. (The official IRNA news agency – August 5, 2018)