“این عکس نشان دهنده یک گلدان گل است”

“This picture shows a flower pot.”
The scent of Mazafariyan.

Although child marriage is considered “sexual abuse” by experts and child rights advocates, in Iran, marriage for girls at the age of 13 and boys at the age of 15 is legal. However, marriage for girls and boys before these ages is also allowed “with the consent of the guardian and with the approval of the court, subject to the best interests of the child.”

Recently, with the new arrangement of representatives in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the issue of child marriage has been evaluated by an official institution and, of course, the legislator. According to the proposed plan by the representatives, which has been referred to the presiding board by the signatures of 67 individuals, the minimum age for marriage for girls is 16 years and for boys is 18 years; however, for marriages between 13 to 16 year old girls and 16 to 18 year old boys, there is no prohibition if the consent of the guardian and a valid court and the verification of their physical health by a legal medical professional are present.

If this law is approved by the representatives, it is unlikely that it will be implemented due to the disagreements that have been previously presented by the authorities. However, there are criticisms about these three lines presented by the parliament.

But among the girls and boys who marry under the mentioned age, and the number of them reaches 40 thousand each year, there are some who are known as “widows” due to the death of their spouse.

During the first term of President Hassan Rouhani, for the first time, the Deputy for Women and Family Affairs was appointed by the Presidential institution. In an official interview on the news network, he mentioned the issue of orphaned children. This interview and his critical remarks about the performance and neglect of previous governments towards one of the children’s rights issues served as a prelude for his future resignation from his position.

Tayybeh Siavoshi, representative of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, expressed concern about the repeated abortions of some children, referring to the existence of 2,000 children in the country. The plan to increase the age of marriage for children, influenced by the increase in the number of child marriages and their conversion into widowed children, was key. These were children who were considered both widowed and head of household at the age of 13 or 14. This means that in addition to providing for themselves, they also had children for whom they had to take responsibility and provide for their livelihood.

However, the best source for knowing the exact number of children who have lost their spouses is the official census conducted by the Iranian Statistical Center. Every few months, the Step by Step Campaign to Stop Child Marriage in Iran (stopemiran.com) examines the statistics of one of the problems caused by child marriage in order to provide documented statistical information to verify their claims, in addition to their activities in this field.

In the year 1395, in the census of population and housing, it has been reported that among men aged 10 to 14, 345 cases of literate widowers and 37 cases of illiterate widowers have been registered. In the same year, among women aged 10 to 14, 158 cases of literate widows and 68 cases of illiterate widows have been registered.

No serious research has been done in identifying the factors contributing to the neglect of these children’s conditions. It is undeniable that issuing marriage licenses for children at this age leads to problems such as child mortality, child divorce, child guardianship, child parenthood, and similar issues. However, due to the existence and prevalence of “temporary marriage”, many marriages, divorces, and similar cases are excluded from the registration process, and in some cases, another event occurs before the registration of the first one. For example, a child becomes a widow and immediately remarries. There are also weaknesses in the statistical system, such as not recording the age of marriage for many marriages that take place during childhood, which may result in divorce several years later.

In the presented table, other significant statistics are also noticeable. Among literate men aged 10 to 14, 33,723 marriages and 1,269 divorces were recorded, while for illiterate men in this age group, the numbers were 751 and 41, respectively. This is despite the fact that in most activities aimed at reducing early marriages, girls are the primary target. One of the features of statistical studies is to shed light on reality in order to identify, measure, and reconsider new dimensions of problems through accurate numbers, in hopes of finding a way to intervene.

Early marriage, whether for boys or girls, is still happening every year in Iran at a constant rate of 40,000 cases, influenced by various factors. Despite changes to Article 1041 of the Civil Code since its inception, it seems that the efforts of representatives in the new era to implement and approve a law – which still has its flaws – is a long and winding road.