The trend of girl child marriage in Iran based on national census data.

Childhood is a unique part of human life that prepares children for a healthy and dynamic adulthood.[1] However, some children face conditions that are not appropriate including forced working, early marriage and pregnancy.[2] Child marriage is a harmful practice,[3] generally defined as marriage before 18 years. It is a public health issue, especially in developing countries, although it is reported that the practice may be reducing, with the proportion of young women (20–24 years) who were married as children decreasing by 15% globally in the last 10 years.[4]

Across the globe, the highest levels of child marriage are reported in sub-Saharan Africa (35%), South Asia (30%), Latin America and the Caribbean (24%), the Middle East and North Africa (17%), and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (12%). According to UNFPA, disruptions in planned efforts to end child marriage due to COVID-19 could result in an additional 13 million child marriages between 2020 and 2030.[5] Child marriage is considered a fundamental violation of human rights with widespread and long-term consequences for girls including mental health issues, lack of access to education and career opportunities and adverse health effects.[6] Pregnancy 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, place of residence and other factors in separate tables. For this analysis, marital information tables were used. The marital status of the entire population is reported based on age groups, gender, and place of residence. The age groups 10–14 and 15–19 years are considered in this paper. To calculate the prevalence of marriage, the number of people married at least once in each age group was divided by the number of people in the same age group and expressed as a percentage.

Figure 1 shows that for the age group 10–19 years, in 2006, 775,626 of 7,551,209 girls (10.27%) were married; in 2011, 746,293 of 6,042,654 (12.35%) and in 2016, 610,916 of 5,450,270 (11.21%). The marriage rate for girls 10–14 years decreased overall between 2006 and 2016. Lowest levels were 0.86% in urban areas in 2016 and the highest 2.83% in rural areas in 2011. In contrast, marriage for girls 15–19 years increased over ten years, with the highest rate of marriage in rural areas in 2016. The proportion of married girls 10–14 years to all married girls 10–19 years in 2006, 2011 and 2016 were 6.92%, 6.51% and 6.13%, respectively (data not shown). In the so-called non-resident populations (nomads and the homeless) the marriage rate for girls aged 10–14 and 15–19 years is similar to the rural and urban populations, respectively.

Figure 1.

Percentages of married 10–19 years’ girl in 2006 and 2016

The data show that one in ten girls 10–19 years overall (and one in five in rural areas) have experienced marriage at least once. Marriage seems to be declining among younger girls (10–14 years) but is increasing among older girls (15–19 years). These findings should be interpreted cautiously. Use of age group data can overestimate prevalence and other data sources are necessary to improve the data, including from vital registration systems. Also, marital contracts can be carried out in different ways and marriage may not necessarily imply consummation or taking on of family responsibilities. Nevertheless, with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5.3) to end child marriage by 2030,[17] more comprehensive work is needed to explore the root causes of child marriage, its effects and ways to reduce it.