Iran Must Address Crisis in Child Protection

On the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child, the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran is calling on government authorities to address the country’s crisis in child protection and implement the recent United Nations directive aimed at “addressing the needs and challenges faced by girls.” This directive also targets “promoting girls’ empowerment and the realization of their human rights.”

Hadi Qhaemi, executive director of the Campaign, stated: “There is no justification for forced marriage of girls, failure to protect children from abuse, or the execution of children.”

He added: “Millions of girls in Iran face violations of their rights and the absence of laws and protections necessary for their safety, which demonstrates a crisis that the international community must continuously address and hold Iranian authorities accountable for.”

Iran’s civil law considers the legal age of marriage for girls to be 13 years old, while girls under 13 can also marry with the consent of their father and a judge. According to UNICEF estimates, 17 percent of girls in Iran have married before the age of 18, while recent statistics released in Iran indicate that 20 percent of formal marriages registered in 2017 involved girls under 18 years old. Five to six percent of marriages in the same year also involved girls under 14. These figures, however, do not reflect the actual statistics of child marriage in Iran, as marriages below the legal age are rarely registered.

Iran is among the leading countries in executing juveniles, including girls. For example, Zeinab Sekaanvand was arrested at age 17 and was executed on October 1, 2018, for the murder of her husband, although she had previously filed complaints about physical abuse by her husband.

Existing protections against child abuse are also insufficient in Iran. Current law does not protect children from physical abuse and makes no reference to sexual abuse. The civil law and Islamic penal law also do not define limitations on corporal punishment by parents. The proposed bill on the protection of children and adolescents has not been passed for over a decade. Moreover, there are very weak mechanisms for preventing, reporting, and intervening in cases of violence against children in the country.

Child labor in Iran is also not adequately addressed, affecting both girls and boys. According to United Nations estimates, there are approximately three million child laborers in Iran, while Iranian non-governmental organizations estimate this figure to be close to seven million children. Many of these children are girls. Iran’s weak supervisory conditions and failure to enforce existing labor laws facilitate the use of child labor in the country’s economy.

Vulnerable girls, such as girls with disabilities, face an educational system that does not provide accessibility and equality for them. Sexual minority girls, who are repeatedly victims of violence at home, in schools, and in society, are unable to seek support without risking punishment and arrest. Furthermore, child trafficking in sexual commerce remains an overlooked issue in Iran.

Girls Are Separated from Imprisoned Mothers in an Inhumane Manner

On the occasion of International Day of the Girl Child, the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran remembers girls who have been separated from their mothers, who are imprisoned political prisoners in Iran, in an inhumane and unjust manner.

Gabriella Gisou, daughter of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, has recently returned to the United Kingdom to visit her father Richard Ratcliffe and begin the school year in England. Nazanin Zaghari, who has spent the past three years in Iranian prisons based on vague and unproven espionage charges and has thus been separated from her daughter Gisou, has been eligible for release under Article 58 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code since autumn 2017. However, she continues to remain imprisoned in Evin Prison. Nazanin Zaghari should be immediately released and allowed to reunite with her daughter Gisou.

Daughters of other political prisoners in Iran have suffered similar deprivations. For example, the children of Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is imprisoned in Iran for peaceful political activities, have been permanently denied telephone contact with their mother and currently live in France. Ezra Bazargan, mother of Nasrin Sotoudeh, wrote in a letter recently published by the Human Rights Defenders Center: “In the history of mankind, few rulers have brought such shame upon themselves as to deprive young children of their mother to the extent that they forget her face and voice and become afflicted with anxiety and terror in their childhood dreams between having and not having, and between their mother being alive or dead.”

The Campaign for Human Rights in Iran is calling on relevant United Nations bodies, including the Office of the Secretary-General, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and other child-related mechanisms, as well as governments around the world, to insist that official government authorities of Iran take action to address serious violations of girls’ rights and the absence of state support for this group of children.

Source: Campaign for Human Rights in Iran