Child Marriage in the Context of Shia Iran
Early marriage, which has been traditionally practiced in Iran , is to a large extent also endorsed and encouraged by Sharia Law. In spite of a considerable reduction in the number of early marriages, they continue to be practiced under various guises. Policies devised to reduce these marriages often pose more questions than they answer, while their implications lead to unforeseen reactions and often result in even more undesirable consequences for all concerned. Early marriage, itself a relatively new concept, is associated with multiple pregnancies. International agencies regard it as harmful to the health, and especially reproductive health, of young women under the age of fifteen.
The mortality rate of mothers under the age of fifteen is five times higher than those over twenty year olds. Girls under the age of eighteen are classified as children by international conventions. However, when the Iranian delegation to the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC 1998) signed the agreement that defined a child as “anybody under the age of eighteen”, it reserved the right not to implement the clauses which were considered against the Islamic ideology. Child marriage is one such area and its practice continues. In reality, the implementation of most of the clauses of the above Convention involves major difficulties and clashes with local laws, traditions and customs. At the same time, most studies concerned with early marriage only address its negative impact and focus on girls from the perspective of ‘human rights' and ‘violence against women'. Such an approach leaves out the wider social and cultural context within which these marriages take place, which also involves young boys and affects the larger family network; i.e. there is a general neglect to carry out a gender analysis of this trend.
The research examines the changes that have taken place in relation to marriage patterns, including early marriage, and how these marriages have been transformed during the past 25 years. Definitions of early, coerced, and arranged marriage, and the definition of the ‘child' in this context, as understood and practiced in Shi'a Iran, is the main focus of the study. Dr Soraya Tremayne has made several field trips to Iran to collect the data, in addition to carrying out fieldwork in Tehran, Yazd (in central Iran) and undertaking a short spell of research in Ardebil ( Province of Azerbaijan).