Child marriage: 346 births registered by mothers under 15 years of age in the spring of this year
According to statistics published by the Statistical Center of Iran, 346 babies were born to mothers under the age of 15 during the spring of this year. This figure for girls aged 15 to 19 has also exceeded 16,000 births. The physical and psychological harms caused by child marriage have irreparable impacts on the lives of girls, especially pregnancies under the age of 18, maternal mortality, depression, and sometimes suicide attempts, in addition to harms such as divorce, failure to attend school, and the persistence of the cycle of cultural and economic poverty.
HRANA reported, citing ISNA, that according to statistics published by the Statistical Center of Iran, 346 babies were born to mothers under the age of 15 during the spring of this year.
According to this report, this figure also exceeded 16,000 births for girls aged 15 to 19.
Child marriage has been on the rise in Iran in recent years, and child rights activists say the phenomenon will have a negative impact on the health of Iranian families in the future.
The high rate of child marriage before reaching intellectual and mental maturity indicates the extent of this phenomenon in Iran. The age of marriage in Iran is determined based on “sexual maturity,” while experts say that sexual maturity is only part of the dimensions of full human maturity. Growth, awareness, education, and freedom of choice are the most basic and humane conditions for forming a family.
The physical and psychological harms caused by child marriage cause irreparable damage to the lives of girls, especially pregnancies under the age of 18, maternal mortality, depression, and sometimes suicide attempts, in addition to harms such as divorce, failure to attend school, and the persistence of the cycle of cultural and economic poverty.
