Child (or early) marriage is a marriage where either or both the bride and groom (but in reality, most predominantly the bride) is/are under the legal age of eighteen, which is the age limit for protection under the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. … Child marriage is also sanctioned by some religious discourses. While the religious possibility is hardly ever the reason behind child marriage, it is a significant facilitator that both adjusts the moral tone and affects legal possibilities.’ [footnote 123] The USSD Human Rights Report for 2020 stated that ‘Most rape victims likely did not report the crime because they feared official retaliation or punishment for having been raped, including charges of indecency, immoral behavior, or adultery, the last in which conviction carries the death penalty. Rape victims also feared societal reprisal or ostracism. There were reports that approximately 80 percent of rape cases went unreported.’ [footnote 191] It went on to explain that ‘Authorities considered abuse in the family a private matter and seldom discussed it publicly.’ [footnote 192] Anyone in public places and roads who openly commits a harām (sinful) act, in addition to the punishment provided for the act, shall be sentenced to two months’ imprisonment or up to 74 lashes; and if they commit an act that is not punishable but violates public prudency, they shall only be sentenced to ten days to two months’ imprisonment or up to 74 lashes. This section analyses the evidence relevant to this note - that is information in the COI section; refugee/human rights laws and policies; and applicable caselaw - by describing this and its inter-relationships, and provides an assessment of, in general, whether one or more of the following applies: RFERL noted ‘According to the bill, the judiciary will be tasked with setting up and sponsoring offices that provide support for women who suffer some type of violence or who are susceptible to violence. The bill also requires the establishment of special police units to ensure the safety of women.’ [footnote 80]

The USSD IRF Report 2019 noted ‘The government does not recognize Baha’i marriages or divorces but allows a civil attestation of marriage. The attestation serves as a marriage certificate and allows for basic recognition of the union but does not offer legal protections in marital disputes.’ [footnote 86]The US Department of State’s 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom (USSD IRF Report 2019) noted ‘Recognized religious groups issue marriage contracts in accordance with their religious laws.’ [footnote 81] According to a report on gender inequality in Iran, published in 2013 by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC), ‘Under Islamic Shari’a marriage is not considered as a sacrament but defined as a civil contract between a man and his wife.’ [footnote 1] Religious marriages must be registered with the authorities to be considered legally valid by the state [footnote 2].

The same report noted that, since marrying without consent is viewed as shameful, families may accept the marriage to avoid a court request [footnote 116]. Marrying without the family’s consent was more common in urban areas [footnote 117]. Amnesty International’s research shows that women face entrenched discrimination in family law and criminal law. Iran’s legal system puts women in a subordinate status relative to men. Under the penal code, the testimony of a woman is accorded half the value of that of a man. The age of criminal responsibility is set at nine lunar years (eight years and eight months) for girls but at 15 lunar years (14 years and six months) for boys. Women are also discriminated against under the Civil Code, notably in matters relating to marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance.’ [footnote 190] Normally, the mother cannot be a child’s legal guardian in Iran even if she has the right to raise the child in her home in practice. Legal guardianship, and therefore the power to make decisions about important matters pertaining to the child, such as marriage, financial arrangements and international travel, automatically belongs to the father. The mother can generally only gain legal custody of her children in the absence of the children’s father and paternal grandfather.’ [footnote 67]

The average age of marrying in Iran is 24 years for women and 27 years for men. There was a tradition of marrying girls off at a young age in arranged marriages, but most families today do not advocate them. The average age of marriage in Iran has risen considerably in recent decades, and the popularity of arranged and inter-family marriages has decreased. Arranged and inter-family marriages have decreased in the 21st century not just in cities but also in the countryside. Marriages that are arranged completely without the children’s consent are especially unpopular and clearly less common these days.’ [footnote 146]

For further guidance on assessing the availability of state protection, see the instruction on Assessing Credibility and Refugee Status and the Country Policy and Information Note on Iran: Actors of Protection. This is while equal rights and equality before the law, without any exception, are among the basic principles articulated in different international instruments on human rights. For example, Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) protect every person’s human rights “without distinction of sex.” The IRI’s national laws fail to uphold these principles and instead apply an unequal and discriminatory system on the basis of gender.’ [footnote 186] cultural or tribal traditions and customs, including families who believe their daughter has to marry before reaching puberty (see Cultural and societal attitudes towards women). Shamin Asghari noted in a paper on early marriage, regarding the influence of Islam in Iranian law, that: The report added that Iran’s ‘construction of gender roles and the patriarchal control of women have produced a [legal] framework that demands women’s obedience to their husbands and has its roots in the idea of male superiority and female inferiority. It clearly insists on roles and expectations based on gender stereotypes, and results in the economic, social and political predominance of men and dependency of women.’ [footnote 89] The IHRDC noted, however, that, ‘… legal inequalities do not solely originate from deficiencies in laws, but also from social customs and traditions that retain the bias of pre-modern and patriarchal social systems.’ [footnote 90]

As reported by Minority Rights Group International (MRG) in September 2019, writing on the discrimination of women in Iran Article 6 of the Civil Code specifies that ‘laws relating to personal status, such as marriage, divorce, capacity and inheritance, shall [b]e observed by all Iranian subjects, even if resident abroad.’ [footnote 5] Article 976 of the Civil Code states, ‘every woman of foreign nationality who marries an Iranian husband’ is considered to be an Iranian subject [footnote 6]. Whilst a foreign man married to an Iranian woman does not automatically receive Iranian citizenship, changes to the nationality law introduced in June 2020 allow Iranian women married to foreign men to pass Iranian citizenship onto their children, providing the parents are in an official marriage that has been registered with the authorities [footnote 7] [footnote 8].

The EJIMEL report considered that temporary marriage was ‘…sometimes used to legitimize early marriage with the approval of the parents.’ [footnote 31] Muslim women may only marry Muslim men. Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians issue marriage contracts in accordance with their religious laws (see Marriage and religion). The Middle East Institute (MEI), a US-based think tank, reported in March 2020 on the position of women in Iran: According to most Shi’i scholars, a girl is eligible to marry at eight years and nine months and a boy at fourteen years and seven months, when they are supposed to have reached puberty and can reproduce. Despite this, there are some Shi’i mujtahid who oppose the majority Shi’i ruling on the age of marriage and advocate for eliminating child marriage because of the harm it causes to the child’s life as well as to the religion. While after the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the minimum age of marriage was dropped to the age approved by shari’a law (nine and fifteen), in August 2003, and under pressure from the female members of the Iranian parliament, the age of marriage was raised to thirteen for girls; however, a clause was added stating that earlier marriage is allowed if the girl’s guardian and an Islamic court approve the girl’s readiness for marriage. This clause has in fact made the application of the law regarding the minimum age of marriage arbitrary.’ [footnote 132] Freedom House stated in its annual 2021 Freedom in the World Report for Iran that ‘Women do not receive equal treatment under the law and face widespread discrimination in practice. For example, a woman’s testimony in court is given half the weight of a man’s, and the monetary compensation awarded to a female victim’s family upon her death is half that owed to the family of a male victim.’ [footnote 188]

The Temporary Wife/A Promise of Spring

Women in Iran are subject to systematic discrimination on the basis of gender, which stems from culture, religion, society and legislation. The country’s male-dominated and conservative governance structure is conducive to discrimination against women in multiple spheres of society from criminal and family law to education and employment. Iran is one of the few countries in the world that have not ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In February 2019, the forced marriage of an 11-year-old girl, Raha, to a much older man, resulted in court intervention and the girl was removed from her family by social services [footnote 177] [footnote 178]. However, according to the Imam Ali Society (IAS), an Iran-based non-governmental charity that provides support to vulnerable women and children throughout the country, Raha would have remained married had the family obtained the correct legal permission [footnote 179]. In October 2020, Iran’s Deputy President for Women and Family Affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, stated that 30,000 marriages involving girls aged under 14 occurred in Iran every year [footnote 163]. Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted in June 2020 ‘… girls as young as 13, with permission from their fathers, and boys as young as 15 can marry. Children can also marry at younger ages if a judge authorizes the marriage.’ [footnote 133] Although prepared for the academic year 2000-1, an essay prepared by Sen McGlinn under the supervision of Léon Buskens (lecturer on anthropology and Islamic law at the faculties of Humanities and Law of Leiden University in the Netherlands [footnote 11]), for the paper on ‘Islamic Family Law’ continues to provide relevant information. The essay provided a comprehensive overview of family law in Iran (hereafter, the Family Law in Iran paper) and referred to other schools of Islam: