Ministry of Youth: Child Marriage Has Quadrupled in Some Parts of Iran

The Ministry of Sports and Youth has warned of a four-fold increase in child marriage, attributing it to the rise in marriage loans. No age restrictions have been applied for those benefiting from marriage facilitation programs, leaving the door open for child exploitation, according to experts.

A senior official at the Ministry of Sports and Youth has warned of a four-fold increase in child marriage in Iran, attributing it to the rise in marriage loans. This senior official does not consider marriage facilitation as a step toward increasing marriage rates in the country. Meanwhile, the institution providing marriage facilitation loans has not imposed age restrictions for those seeking to benefit from this loan, and according to experts, has opened the door to child exploitation.

Mohammad Mahdi Tandgouyan, deputy minister of youth affairs at the Ministry of Sports and Youth of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has reported a four-fold increase in child marriage in Iran following the increase in marriage loans.

According to Tandgouyan, poor parents in deprived areas who sometimes suffer from cultural poverty are “trading” their underage children following the increase in marriage loans.

The deputy minister of youth and sports on Tuesday, December 10, expressed his dissatisfaction with the increase in marriage loans and their repayment conditions in an interview with ISNA, adding that this measure has not only failed to increase marriage rates but has also created conditions for social harm to flourish.

Tandgouyan warned of the misuse of marriage facilitation programs and said: “Statistics show that following the increase in marriage loans, child marriage has also increased significantly in some areas, and compared to last year [1397], this issue has increased up to four-fold in some parts of the country.”

Based on information contained in the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s “Marriage Interest-Free Loan Facilitation” system, each bride and groom receive 30 million tomans in marriage facilitation after completing the registration process. Each couple must pay approximately 1.1 million tomans monthly in installments to repay this loan, a sum that according to Mohammad Mahdi Tandgouyan exceeds the financial capacity of many young people.

Age Restrictions for Marriage Loans

The question that arises is whether the law has envisioned a mechanism to protect children in deprived areas and whether age restrictions are applied for those seeking to benefit from marriage interest-free loan facilitation.

Accessing the Central Bank’s system in the “Frequently Asked Questions” section shows that no age restrictions have been considered for benefiting from this facilitation, and the system explicitly states: “Initially, both husband and wife register separately in the marriage system, and after determining the branch and completing the relevant procedures, marriage facilitation is paid to their legal guardian or custodian.”

What Do Statistics Say About Child Marriage?

Tayebeh Siavashi, a member of the women’s faction in parliament, stated in September of this year citing civil registration statistics that in the first six months of 1397, the marriage rate of girls aged 10 to 14 was approximately 7 percent of all marriages, amounting to 17,486 cases.

According to a report from the “Cultural Studies Office of the Parliamentary Research Center,” between the years 1391 to 1395, between 4.9 to 5.6 percent of girl marriages were in the 10 to 14 age group. The director general of civil registration of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad had previously reported 9 cases of marriage of children under 10 years old in 1396 in that province.

Since many underage marriages in Iran are not registered, accurate statistics on them are not available.

Society’s Sensitivity to Child Marriage

While a senior official at the Ministry of Sports and Youth has warned of the quadrupling of early marriages, society has become more sensitive to this issue compared to before and is taking a strong stance against it.

The latest case of underage marriage that became public and sparked public anger on social media was the marriage of an 11-year-old girl to a young man in “Behbahan” city in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in September 1397, which was annulled following public pressure and civil activists’ and local authorities’ pursuit.

In the final days of 1397, another child marriage story unfolded in the media; the story of an 11-year-old girl from Ilam who was married to a 50-year-old man. According to Imam Ali Society’s report, the girl’s addicted family handed her over in marriage to a 50-year-old man with seven children and another wife for 15 million tomans. The pursuit of this non-governmental organization and the welfare organization paid off, and the girl, named “Raha,” was rescued from this life.

Source: DW