Iranian girls ruined by child marriage 1. Skip to content 2. Skip to main menu 3. Skip to more DW sites https://p.dw.com/p/2jiux Leyla was 17 years old when she was married off by her parents in exchange for goats. She can still remember how she had been beaten up by her father before she was taken to the wedding ceremony. Leyla comes from a village near Esfarayen in the northeast of Iran, and her story is not uncommon for poor young girls from rural and tribal areas in the Islamic Republic. There have also been reports of girls as young as 10 years old being forced into marriage. Estimates from the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, in 2016 indicate that 17 percent of girls in Iran were married before the age of 18. And according to statistics from the Iranian National Organization for Civil Registration quoted in 2015 by the Center for Human Rights in Iran, over 40,000 girls under the age of 15 had registered their marriages during the previous one year. Read more: Iranian women are second-class citizens Sharia-based Iranian law states the legal age of marriage is 13 for girls and 15 for boys, but marriages can still be carried out at a younger age with the consent

y and childbirth are the main causes of health consequences. 7 A significant association is observed between early marriage and depression. 8 In addition, it is demonstrated that age at marriage has a significant direct relationship with marital satisfaction. 9 Child marriage in Iran is lower than in many regions of the world but still considerable. 10 UNICEF data on Iran show that 3% of women (20–24 years) were first married or in a union before 15 years of age, and 17% before 18 years. 11 Cultural and traditional practices, driven by poverty and low awareness of the risks of child marriage in girls, were important reasons for child marriage. 12 Others identify cultural family values, religious beliefs, women’s low autonomy in decision-making and response to social, emotional and sexual needs as reasons. 13 In Iran, the age of majority (legal adulthood) is 9 years for girls and 15 years for boys (Article 1210 of the Civil Code, 1991). While marriageable age is defined at 13 years for girls and 15 years for boys, there is no specific age limit for marriage in Iran and marriage is possible at any age (Amendment of Article 1041 of the Civil Code, 1041, 2002). Although the mean age at marriage among females in Iran seems to be increasing, 14 early marriage still remains a concern. To address early marriage it is necessary to comprehensively assess aspects including prevalence, different causes and negative consequences, 15 but there is unfortunately no clear picture of the current situation regarding child marriage in Iran. This article aims to contribute to the evidence base by estimating the prevalence of marriage in children using 2006, 2011 and 2016 national census data. The General Census of Population and Housing in Iran is the largest census conducted in Iran. It was conducted every 10 years by the Statistics Center of Iran, but since 2006 it has been conducted every five years. 16 The data are available online from 2006 and reported in detail with age, gender,

## Country Policy and Information Note Iran: Women – Early and forced marriage Version 5.0 June 2025 ## Contents Executive summary ... 4 Assessment ... 5 About the assessment ... 5 1. Material facts, credibility and other checks/referrals ... 5 1.1 Credibility ... 5 1.2 Exclusion ... 6 2. Convention reason(s) ... 6 3. Risk ... 7 4. Protection ... 9 5. Internal relocation ... 10 6. Certification ... 11 Country information ... 12 About the country information ... 12 7. Legal context ... 12 7.1 Marriage laws ... 12 7.2 Marriage and religion ... 13 7.3 Temporary marriage ... 14 7.4 Marriage registration ... 16 7.5 Dowry and maintenance rights ... 18 7.6 Divorce and child custody ... 18 7.7 Reproductive rights ... 21 7.8 Legal framework relating to women and children ... 22 8. Marriage and divorce documentation ... 25 9. Position of women in society ... 27 9.1 Cultural and societal attitudes towards women and marriage ... 27 9.2 Marriage customs ... 30 10. Early and forced marriage ... 31 10.1Definitions ... 31 10.2Minimum age for marriage ... 32 10.3Reasons for child marriage ... 33 10.4Prevalence of child marriage ... 36 10.5Effects of child marriag

Revolution in Iran. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1983. Population and Family Planning in Iran. United … arranged marriages are common in Islamic and customary com¬ munities, and early marriages are in¬ … as well as covering only those who are legally married, and “abuse” is a euphemistic