WUNRN
Justice for Iran
http://justice4iran.org/reports/276000-under-age-girls-were-married/
IRAN – IN ONLY ONE YEAR, 276,000 UNDER-AGE GIRLS WERE MARRIED & 109,000 TEENAGERS GAVE BIRTH IN IRAN
Justice for Iran –
14 January 2015:The number of Iranian girls who got married between the ages of
10 and 14 reached its highest level in the year 1392 (2013-2014) after the
country saw a continuous growth in under-age marriages during the previous five
years. The number of girls who became mothers while younger than 15 also rose.
At the same time, the last official statistics published in Iran reveal
that 10 per cent of the babies born to mothers between 10 and 12 years of age
die.
The official
figures show that 1,727 girls under the age of 15 gave birth in the year 1392
(2013-2014). On average, more than 8 per cent of women who gave birth during
the last five years (1388-1392, or 2009-2010 and 2013-2014) were between 15 and
19 years of age.
The increase in
the number of married girls and women who are becoming mothers in childhood
comes up as the Iranian parliament, the Majlis, debates a bill designed to curb
the access of women to contraceptives and sexual health education with the aim
of encouraging population growth. These limitations, the majority of
which had been implemented before any decision by the Majlis, expose even more
girls to early pregnancies and put their health and the health of their
children in danger. The last official census in Iran shows that
the mortality rate of babies born to mothers younger than 15 is higher than for
all other age groups in Iran.
While the official
statistics provided limited information on the details concerning childbearing
by girls under the age of 15, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported
the birth of four babies to mothers aged just 10 in the year 1391 (2012-2013).
There were 17 births to 11-year-old mothers, 50 births to mothers aged 12 and
275 births to 13-year-old mothers. Mothers aged 14 gave 1,289 births in the
same year. According to this report, based on information obtained from the
Iranian National Organization for Civil Registration, 14,377 new mothers gave
birth aged 15. There were 15,637 girls who became mothers aged 16 and 19,771
births were registered for 17-year-old mothers. Additionally, there were 31,494
births to 18-year-olds and 43,925 births to 19-year-olds.
1,289 mothers gave
birth aged 14 in the year 1391 (2012-2013). There were another 275 births to
13-year-old mothers, 50 to girls aged 12 and 17 births to 11-year-old mothers.
Four girls gave birth at the age of 10.
The statistics of
the Iranian National Organization for Civil Registration show that in the year
1392 (2013-2014), the number of girls who got married aged under 10 or between
the age of 10 and 15 has risen in comparison to the previous year. 201 girls
got married aged less than 10 and the number of brides aged 10 to 14 rose to
more than 41,000. This accounts for 5.44 per cent of all marriages in Iran. In
addition, close to 235,000 marriages of girls aged between 15 and 19 were
registered in the same period.
The highest number
of brides aged 10 to 14 was registered in the province of Khorassan-e Razavi,
with 7,635 marriages, and in East Azerbaijan province with 4,485 marriages. The
province of Khorassan followed with 2,165 marriages, Fars came next with 2,062
marriages, Tehran with 2,051 marriages and Hamedan with 1,966 marriages.
In terms of
under-age mothers, the province of Sistan and Baluchistan has the worst record
with 462 births registered to girls younger than 15. The provinces of
Khorassan-e Razavi and Khuzestan follow with 157 births by mothers in the same
age group. East and West Azerbaijan come next with 99 and 90 births to girls
under 15.
Girls are not the
only victims of early marriage in Iran. Boys are affected as well. However, the
statistics on boy marriages show significant differences to the situation of
girls. Last year (1392, or 2013-2014) 313 boys under the age of 15 were
married, together with 36,155 of boys aged 15 to 19.
All statistics
presented in this report are based on the numbers officially announced on the website
of the Iranian National Organization for Civil Registration. But the number of
non-registered marriages is likely to be much higher.
This situation
exists in Iran despite the ban on early marriages endorsed by the UN General
Assembly on 18 December 2014 requiring all member states to approve
and enforce laws preventing child marriages and punishing the offenders. Early
marriages justified by culture or custom have been marked as unacceptable by
the UN and the organization requires serious steps from all member states
towards completely stopping these marriages.
Silence of the
State in Face of Rising Early Marriages
Shahindokht
Molaverdi, the Vice-President of Iran for Women and Family Issues, announced
that she had raised this issue in the cabinet. This came after Justice for Iran
published its second report in the month of Tir 1393
(June-July 2014) highlighting the alarming situation in early marriages, which
was widely reported in the media thereafter.
In the month of
Mordad 1393 (July-August 2014) Molaverdi also emphasized the necessity of
reforming the law on marriage age for girls and said the Justice Ministry has
already provided some comments which are to be published soon.
However, nine
months have passed with no announcement on this issue. No programme on
reforming the law and stopping child marriages has been published. The
government officials responsible have not provided any explanation.
Concern over the
increase in the number of mothers under 18 in case of implementation of new
population growth policies
The analytical report
of Justice for Iran, published under the title “Women’s Reproductive and Domestic Labour at the Service
of Nation-Building,“ has warned that there are two bills currently
in the Majlis whose generalities have been approved. “The Bill to Increase
Fertility Rates and Prevent Population Decline“ and “The Comprehensive
Population and Exaltation of Family Bill“ contain laws which would potentially
directly violate the right of women to gain access to information on temporary
and permanent methods of contraception, family planning services, legal and
safe abortion and follow-up care.
The evidence
collected in this report suggests that the enforcement of some of these key
policies has already begun in Iran. The side effects of these strict rules
place women from the poorest households at greatest risk, including many young
brides, who will be denied access to free contraception pills and general education.
“The Bill to
Increase Fertility Rates and Prevent Population Decline“ specifically bans any
“activities“ which seem to encourage family planning and help women to avoid
pregnancy. Based on this article, any activity including education and
consultancy in the sphere of family planning and promotion of contraceptive
devices can be regarded as a crime.
“The Comprehensive
Population and Exaltation of Family Bill“, in addition to placing constraints
on the employment of women and encouraging childbearing, violates women´s
rights and privileges in order to “increase the growth of population“ and
increases the hardship in case of abortion. Stopping or limiting family
planning programmes will affect hardest those young girls who, when entering
early marriages, have little knowledge about contraception and insufficient
control over the arrangement of sexual relations related to the spacing of
pregnancies. More than other women, they are at risk of unwanted
pregnancies and repeated childbearing. In addition to bearing the social and
psychological consequences of early and repeated births, their physical health
will be at risk during the time of giving birth and in the long term as well.
While the bill has
not yet been approved by the Majlis, the funding for the Family and Population
Planning Programme has already been eliminated from the 1391 budget (March
2012-2013). On 11 June 2014, the Health Ministry confirmed that this funding
will now be allocated in the budget under the title “Reproductive Health“ and
the “Increase in Fertility Rates“. The access to fertility control methods will
become available only to women for whom pregnancy poses a risk.
Stopping or
limiting family planning programmes will affect hardest young girls who, when
entering early marriages, have little knowledge about contraception and lack
control over the arrangement of sexual relations in order to space
pregnancies. More than other women, they are at risk of unwanted
pregnancies and repeated childbearing.
In interviews with
Justice for Iran, various sources have confirmed that free family planning
services, which included free distribution of condoms and contraception pills, were
stopped and the majority of health centres and pharmacies refrain from
presenting condoms as the easiest and safest method of contraception.
In addition to
cuts in family planning and limiting the possibilities of legal contraception,
the basic training that couples used to obtain before marriage has also been
cancelled, in line with the new population policy. Ali Sangi, the director of
Family Health, Population and Education at the Ministry of Health announced in
the month of Aban 1392 (October-November 2013) that his ministry no longer
provides advice concerning contraception to young couples at the start of their
married life.
International
Efforts to Stop Early and Forced Marriages in Iran
On the eve of the
second session of the Universal Periodic Review on the Situation of Human
Rights in Iran, which took place on 31 October 2014 at the headquarters of the
UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Justice for Iran asked other countries to
present recommendations aimed at stopping early marriages in Iran.
These
recommendations included an unconditional approval of the “Convention on
Consent for Marriage, the Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of
Marriage“ and taking effective legislative steps for the accountability of
judges and all individuals directly responsible for issuing permissions for
early marriages, as well as drafting a new law aimed at banning forced
marriages.
Despite eight
countries – Germany, Italy, Israel, Sierra Leone, Poland, South Korea and
Montenegro – providing recommendations for the Islamic Republic of Iran during
this session to reform the law on forced and early marriage, the Islamic
Republic failed to accept any of these recommendations.
The Universal
Periodic Review of Human Rights in Iran is an important mechanism of the United
Nations within which each country is obliged to present a report to the
international community on its situation of human rights. All other countries
then participate in a session held at the headquarters of the UN Human Rights
Council and provide their recommendations to the country under review.
In the end, the
reviewed country announces which of these recommendations it accepts and which
it rejects. Accepting a recommendation means the country is obliged to enforce
the recommendations within the next four years.
Justice for Iran
has briefed more than 70 permanent missions at the UN in Geneva prior to the
October session in order to present facts and recommendations regarding a
number of issues pertaining to women’s rights in Iran. JFI also submitted a
shadow report with some recommendations on girl marriages, forced hijab, and
the situation of homosexual and transgender citizens in Iran to the UN Human
Rights Council, as well as recommendations regarding the new policies
pertaining to family planning to various member states.
Iran is a member
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Charter on
Civil and Political Rights. Both of these forbid early marriage as well as
marriages without real consent. The UN rapporteur on slavery described forced
marriage as a form of modern slavery. However, Article 1041 of the Iranian
Civil Code determines the age of marriage for girls as 13 years or even lower
on condition that the father or the paternal grandfather win the approval of a
judge.