Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
A/69/356 para 106
Full recommendation:
The Government should take immediate steps to address the increasing incidence of early
and forced child marriage, in particular by banning child marriage and raising the
minimum age for marriage to 18 years, as specified in a number of laws identified in the
country’s submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. He further appeals for efforts
to define and criminalize domestic violence and to expand the definition of rape to
encompass marital rape to be expedited. He asserts, however, that, while domestic
violence is an egregious act, it does not constitute a lethal action required for the
application of capital punishment under international law.
Assessment drafted using Impact Iran indicators1
Articles 19 and 34 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child mandates states to prevent
sexual exploitation of children in any scenario, including while in the care of a parent or a
guardian. This includes any type of coercion or inducement of a child to engage in unlawful
sexual activity. Furthermore, child marriage is regarded by human rights activists as conducive
to (if not a form of) sexual abuse.2 A law on child adoption, passed in 2013, legalized the
marriage between a father and his adopted daughter.3 Such a marriage would be prohibited
unless a court, after consulting with the state welfare organization, rules that such a marriage is
in the best interest of the child though the conditions for this determination are not made clear.4
There is no formal age of consent defined by legislation in Iran as sexual relations outside of
marriage are forbidden, thus age of consent is directly dependent on the minimum age of
marriage. The legal minimum age for marriage is 13 years old for girls and 15 years old for
boys.5 In 2018, a proposed amendment to Article 1041 of the Civil Code that would raise the age
of marriage for girls from 13 to 16, while allowing earlier marriage only with legal and medical
approval, was rejected by the Parliament’s Committee for Judicial and Legal Affairs.6 In
February 2019, the chair of the Committee stated that a “new plan” would be introduced for the
1
Indicators used: CRC.19.1.S.1; CRC.19.1.P.1; CRC.19.1.O.1; ESCR.12.1.S.8
Persia Education Foundation: https://www.persia.education/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Legal_Study_Children_Rights.pdf
3
Law on the protection of children and adolescents without guardians or with irresponsible ones, Article 26, (2013), available at:
http://www.rooznamehrasmi.ir/Laws/ShowLaw.aspx?Code=1344 .
4
Impact Iran submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, review of the 3rd and 4th periodic reports of the Islamic
Republic of Iran: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/countries.aspx?CountryCode=IRN&Lang=EN
5
Article 1041 of the Civil Code as amended up until December 2000, NGO Impact Iran Coalition, Joint Submission to the
Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2016,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CRC_NGO_IRN_19809_E.pdf
6
Amnesty International, UPR submission 2019,
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1305732019ENGLISH.PDF
2
1