An Echo of Silence

According to the religious structure of Iran, maturity for girls begins with the first monthly menstruation, considered as the threshold of transition from childhood to adulthood which happens around age of 9. Although early marriage applies to both young girls and boys, in fact, the bitter reality of society indicates that the consequences and effects of the phenomenon of child marriage on girls are far more serious and dangerous. The official and state statistics suggest that between 500 to 600 thousand children per year in Iran are getting married. Now, there are around 14,000 child widows in the country, and according to estimates from the United Nations, 17 percent of all marriages in Iran are under the age of 18. This group fieldwork book research, as an effort to expose and deepen understanding of the issue of child marriage in Iran, has attracted the attention of civil activists, government policymakers, and some parliamentary representatives and MPs. It has provided the background to proposals for raising the minimum age for child marriage, amending Article 1041 of the Civil Code.