In the first four months of this (Iranian) year, 970 girls under 18 married in Kurdistan Province of Iran, the Director General of the Civil Status Registration of Kurdistan announced.
In an interview with the state-run ISNA news agency in Kurdistan on August 18, 2018, Hassan Sumi said, “Out of the 4,520 registered marriage cases in the Kurdistan Province in the past four months of this year, 970 cases for females were under the age of 18. Underage females made up 21 percent of the total number of marriages in the province.”
In connection with the 970 girls under 18 married in Kurdistan, Sumi added, “According to the report up to the date of registration until August 6, 2018, out of 970 marriages, 659 were urban and 311 were rural.”
Official figures indicate that 180,000 early marriages take place in Iran every year and comprise 24 percent of the total number of marriages. “The largest number of registered marriages of 10-14 girl children was in 2014 which amounted to 40,229. The number of girl children under 10 who have gotten married was 220 in 2011; 187 in 2012; 201 in 2013; 176 in 2014; and 179 in 2015. These figures are probably higher because of unregistered marriages,” said Batool Salimi Manesh, a social researcher.
Salimi Manesh added, “As for the dispersal of child marriages in various cities, Razavi Khorasan Province (northeastern Iran) tops the list, followed by East Azerbaijan Province (northwestern Iran), and Sistan and Baluchestan (southeastern Iran). Of course, Lorestan Province (western Iran) also faces the problem of child marriages but their numbers are lower than other provinces and there is a long way before this phenomenon is uprooted.” (The state-run IRNA news agency – August 5, 2018)
Early marriages of girl children in Iran have dire consequences for them. Zahra Mirzaii, a social researcher said, “Many social harms related to women is due to early and forced marriages.” (The state-run pana.ir website – July 4, 2018)
