Child marriage in Iran remains legal and widespread. The forced and early marriage of girls is one of the most blatant and institutionalized forms of violence against girl children in Iran.
Under the Iranian regime’s Civil Code, the marriage of girls before the age of majority is permitted with the consent of a guardian and a judge. This means that fathers or paternal grandfathers, with the approval of judicial authorities, can determine the fate of a young girl without any meaningful legal barriers, turning her path from the paradise of childhood into a terrifying hell.
Beyond the law’s text, the practical mechanism tilts heavily toward male authority: girls are often treated as commodities, traded in marriage under conditions of economic hardship and gender inequality.
The spread of child marriage in Iran is not a cultural issue but a direct byproduct of the misogynistic clerical regime. Driven by the regime’s political and economic policies, this practice has grown into a full-blown social catastrophe.
Legal Framework & Loopholes
While the legalization of marrying 13-year-old girls is itself a grim product of the clerical regime, representing one of the clearest expressions of child abuse and misogyny, the regime’s legal framework goes even further.
On paper, the law appears to prohibit marriage before puberty, yet its vague clauses and ambiguous exceptions strip this prohibition of any real force. In practice, these loopholes render the supposed ban meaningless.
The law allows girls under 13 to marry if a guardian and judge agree it is in her “best interest.” Such language provides an open door for systemic abuse, ensuring that child marriage is not just tolerated, it is legalized, institutionalized, and encouraged.
The Scale of the Problem
The statistics are devastating. Government data show that more than 131,000 girls under 15 were married between 2016 and 2021. (Baharnews.ir, March 30, 2022)
In 2021 alone, over 32,000 girls under 15 were forced into marriage. (Mardomsalari.ir, December 29, 2022)
And in 2022, another 26,974 joined them. Many of these child brides soon became mothers; that year, 1,390 girls under 15 gave birth. (Rokna.net, October 21, 2024)
The latest statistics released by the regime’s Statistics Center report the marriage of 9,753 girls aged 10 to 14 in the spring of 2021. Compared to seasonal data from the past two years, this was the highest seasonal figure for marriages in this age group, effectively setting a record for such marriages over two years.
The Tip of the Iceberg
Experts agree that the officially recorded and reported statistics are only the tip of the iceberg.
Ali Kazemi, advisor to the legal deputy of the Judiciary Branch. According to Kazemi, “Between 500,000 to 600,000 children get married every year (in Iran) according to the officially registered data. The main problem is that there are marriages taking place beyond those officially registered.” (Entekhab Daily, March 4, 2019)
Mohammad Reza Mahboubfar, a social harm researcher, commented on statistics from the National Statistics Center: “This is the tip of the iceberg of statistics related to early marriage. The actual number of children married is 5 to 6 times the announced number.” (ROKNA News Agency, July 25, 2021)
In yet another interview, Mahboubfar asserted, “Presently, 100 marriages of girls under 15 years old take place every 24 hours.” (Arman-e Melli newspaper, July 27, 2021)
Halting the Release of Statistics
Under mounting public pressure, the Iranian regime halted the publication of statistics and information in 2024 on child marriage and on the number of children born to underage mothers. (Etemad Daily, September 8, 2024) This move is widely seen as an attempt to conceal the growing catastrophe.
In a society plagued by structural poverty, government corruption, and misogynistic laws, child marriage is both a symptom of the crisis and a weapon, an instrument the state uses to oppress women and to force young girls into lives they never chose.
Why It Happens: Poverty, Gender & Control
Several forces drive this tragedy.
Poverty pushes families to marry off their daughters in exchange for dowries or relief from financial pressure.
Gender inequality and patriarchal norms strip girls of autonomy, treating them as property rather than human beings.
And a corrupt legal system, bound by clerical authority, ensures there is no recourse for victims.
In many rural provinces such as Sistan and Baluchistan, Razavi Khorasan, and North Khorasan, these factors interact, producing the highest rates of child marriage in the country.
Consequences for the Girls
For these girls, marriage is not a milestone, it is a sentence.
It ends their education, isolates them socially, and exposes them to physical and sexual abuse. Thousands face life-threatening pregnancies before their bodies are mature enough to bear children. Many sink into severe depression, and for some, suicide becomes the only escape. And some of these vulnerable and defenseless girls, victims of child marriage and domestic violence, ultimately face the tragic end of the gallows at the hands of the misogynistic judicial system of the mullahs.
Human Stories Behind the Statistics
Fatima Soleimani, 12
Fatima, from Kermanshah, was forced by her family to marry a man much older than herself. After repeatedly begging them to stop and finding no protection under the law, she took her own life. Her tragic death revealed how child marriage and family coercion can push even the youngest victims to the point of despair.
Fatemeh Moradpour, 15
In Lorestan Province, Fatemeh was forced to marry a 40-year-old man against her will. Unable to bear the humiliation and control, she hanged herself. Her tragic death reflected the broader silence that surrounds countless girls who cannot escape forced marriages sanctioned by laws written by the mullahs.
Shima Rameshk, 14
Shima, a child bride from southern Iran, took her own life only months after her wedding. She had been married off to a man several decades her senior. Her story echoes countless others repeated every day across Iran.
Samira Sabzian Fard
Married at 14, Samira endured years of violence before killing her abusive husband. At the age of 30, she was executed by the regime, leaving behind two children 15 and 11 years of age. Samira was a victim first of child marriage and then of a brutal judicial system that punishes victims instead of protecting them.
Beyond the Numbers
Child marriage in Iran is a state-sponsored and organized crime. This practice has expanded under the shadow of religious laws and the rule of the Vali-e Faqih (Supreme Leader), forming part of the system used to oppress women and control society.
Every statistic represents a stolen childhood, a silenced voice, a life destroyed before it truly began. The suffering of Iran’s child brides will not end through token reforms or hollow promises.
The only real solution is the overthrow of the current clerical regime, the very system that legalizes, enforces, and profits from the subjugation of women and girls. Only then can Iran’s daughters hope for a future free of forced marriage, violence, and despair, a future where they can learn, dream, and live as human beings, not possessions.
