Child Marriage in East Azerbaijan Has Increased by 42 Percent
Following Zanjan, which holds the first rank in child marriage, the Deputy for Social Affairs of East Azerbaijan Welfare Organization announced that marriages of girls under 18 years old in East Azerbaijan have increased by 42 percent.
Fargol Sahaf, Deputy for Social Affairs of East Azerbaijan Welfare Organization, announced on Tuesday, November 12, a sharp increase in marriages of girls under 18 in East Azerbaijan, stating that during the years 2018 and 2019 (1397-1398 in the Persian calendar), marriages of girls under 18 in the province increased by 42 percent.
According to these statistics, 12,491 marriages in this province involved girls under 18 years old, and East Azerbaijan ranks second after Zanjan in child marriage in Iran.
Some time ago, a Zanjan provincial official also announced that out of 36,000 marriages under age 14, 1,400 of them took place in Zanjan.
Iran newspaper also reported earlier this year that the marriage age of girls in Bidak village, located 5 kilometers from Bojnord, has recently decreased from 11 years old to 8 to 9 years old.
The registration of this number of marriages at young ages comes as statistics presented at a conference on children indicated a high number of divorces among Iranian children and the existence of hundreds of thousands of widowed children in Iran.
According to Iranian civil law, the marriage contract of a girl before reaching 13 years of age and a boy before reaching 15 years of age (solar calendar) is conditional upon the permission of the guardian, which is possible if deemed in the child’s interest as determined by the competent court.
This is while the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran has also acceded to, recognizes individuals under 18 years as children and obligates governments to prevent any sexual exploitation of children, including “encouraging or forcing children to participate in any sexual activity.”
The Judicial Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly rejected the prohibition of marriage under 13 years of age in December of last year, citing what it called opposition from religious authorities.
Source: Voice of America
