Abuse of 11-Year-Old Child Bride in Iran Sees Some Lawmakers Calling for Reforms
*Editor’s Note: This story includes disturbing
details.
News of an 11-year-old girl in
the Iranian city of Ilam being repeatedly raped after being illegally married
off to a man four times her age has renewed protests by some members of
Parliament against the
law that allows child marriage.
The child, referred to by the
pseudo name of “Raha” by media outlets, was placed in the care of the State
Welfare Organization (SWO) following the intervention of a provincial
prosecutor because the marriage had taken place without the approval of a local
court as required by civil law.
But thousands of other child
brides remain at grave risk in Iran, where there is no minimum marriageable
age. For girls under the age of 13 and boys under the age of 15, families
and husbands must obtain legal approval for the marriage.
In December 2018, the
parliamentary Committee for Judicial and Legal Affairs rejected a bill
to ban marriage for girls under the age of 13, prompting widespread
condemnation from civil rights advocates.
According to UNICEF,
17 percent of girls in Iran are married before the age of 18 and three percent
are married before the age of 15. This number only accounts for registered marriages.
In July 2016, Mohammad Kazemi,
a member of Parliament’s Judicial and Legal Affairs Committee, referenced the “unofficial
marriages” that go unregistered in Iran “especially in the border regions and
deprived parts of the country.”
“Uprooting the child marriage
phenomenon requires a multi-dimensional effort in cultural, social and
educational fields,” a lawyer who focused on rights issues when they were based
in Iran told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
“But the most immediate step
has to be the government putting an end to the law that in effect permits
physical and psychological violence against young girls,” added the source who
spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Imam Ali Society (IAS), an
Iran-based non-governmental charity that provides support to vulnerable women
and children throughout the country, was the first to report the news about Raha being
married off to a man who is “almost 50 years old.”
“Raha was saved from becoming a
slave under a law that does not prevent and punish child marriages,” tweeted the organization on February
11, 2019 referring to the fact that Raha would not have been removed from the
home if her family had obtained the necessary legal approvals.
“Figures show that just in 1395
[the Iranian year ending in March 2017], 1,289 marriages were registered of
girls under the age of 14 to men over the age of 30,” said another tweet. “In
112 of those cases, the marriages were under circumstances similar to Raha’s,
meaning the men were over the age of 40, and in six cases the men were over the
age of 60!”
“Raha was lucky that her
compatriots were able to hear her story. But what about the other children who
are being traded far from public view?” asked IAS.
IAS group member Zahra
Kahram said Raha’s case was accidentally discovered during the
implementation of a project aimed at providing medical and psychological
checkups to women in a rural part of Ilam Province’s Helilan region.
“The man has seven children
from his first wife,” said Kahram. “Raha has not reached puberty and yet he has
been having intercourse with her every night. She has suffered much physical
and mental harm and cries constantly.”
“When the IAS looked into the
marriage, we noticed that Raha had been forced to marry the man six months
earlier in exchange for only 15 million tomans [approximately $3,147 USD] paid
to her family because of financial need.”
Later inquiries revealed that
the marriage had taken place without fulfilling requirements stipulated in
Article 1041 of the Civil Code including getting the
father’s consent or the court’s approval for girls getting married before the
age 13.
Article 50 of Iran’s Family Protection Law stipulates punishment of
six months imprisonment for men who get married without the necessary legal
approvals and six months jail time for the child’s father or legal guardian.
It also states that if it is
proven that sexual relations caused a girl’s death or “permanent physical
disability or illness,” the man would have to pay blood money and receive a
fifth- or fourth-degree prison sentence.
According to Islamic law,
Diyah, known as “blood money” in English, is paid as financial compensation to
the victim or heirs of a victim in cases of murder, bodily harm, or property
damage
In response to inquiries by the
IAS and the SWO, Raha was placed in state care and
moved to an SWO safe house. Warrants were also issued for the arrest of her
father and the man she was married to. The latter was reportedly arrested on February 11.
Growing Condemnation of Child
Marriages
Word of Raha’s case led to
renewed condemnation of the unlimited marriageable age in Iran.
Labor and Social Welfare
Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari and a number of lawmakers condemned the case and criticized
child marriages despite the taboo in Iran of openly criticizing politically
sensitive state policies.
The day after Raha’s case was
reported, Ayatollah Asadollah Bayat Zanjani, a Shia theologian, also issued a
fatwa stating that child marriage violates the principles of Islam.
“Getting married to children is
an unjust act and because it’s unjust it is not legitimate,” he said.
There are several ayatollahs in
Iran who can issue fatwas and Shia Muslims can choose which of these ayatollahs
to follow as their point of reference for religious matters. That means a Shia
Muslim could ignore Zanjani’s fatwa if a different ayatollah has declared the
opposite.
Zahra Saie, a member of the
Parliamentary Committee for Social Affairs, also condemned child marriage after
hearing about Raha’s case.
“The studies we have carried
out show that those who marry early have a higher divorce rate and naturally as
a result suffer more,” said Saie, a member of Parliament’s Youth Faction.
“Physiologically, the girls are frailer at that age.”
She added: “In order to
properly raise their children, today’s mothers have to be educated and
informed. Men and women have to be in a particular physical and mental
condition in order for a successful family to take shape. Young girls and boys
who get married don’t have a full understanding of life. Islamic theology does
not restrict marriage at a certain age but if we want successful families we
have to see what the right age for marriage is.”
Reacting to the prosecutor’s
decision to remove Raha from the man’s home, attorney Ali Mojtahedzade tweeted: “When a public defender,
despite legal shortcomings, steps in to deal with a child marriage in Ilam, it
is an indication that society has become more sensitive and concerned about
these issues regardless of the powerful opponents.”
Journalist and political
activist Reza Bahrami asked: “Those who are against
banning child marriage, do they have anything to say about the tragic case of
an 11-year-old child marrying a 50-year-old man in Ilam?”
Journalist Hedie Kimiaee commented: “The prosecutor in Ilam has
said that families who violate Article 50 of the Family Protection Law will be
prosecuted. So that means we do have a law but we are not enforcing it. What is
being done for other Rahas who are quietly victimized?”
Legal Efforts to Ban Marriages
to Girls under the Age of 13
Although the Parliamentary
Committee for Legal and Judicial Affairs rejected a proposal to confront
child marriages, there is still a possibility that it will be debated on the
legislative floor.
“The Women’s Faction has asked
the parliamentary leadership to include this proposal in the legislative
process for further review so that we can look into various points of view and
get the best results,” said lawmaker Zahra Saie.
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