During its last Universal Periodic Review (“UPR”) in November 2019, the Government of Iran
stated that a Bill entitled “Protection, Dignity and Security of Women against Violence” would
be “aimed at criminalizing new forms of assault, harassment and violations of the rights of
women and adopting preventive and support measures to stop violence against women.”9
Reportedly, the bill would also prohibit forced and early marriage for girls under 18 years old.10
The most recent version11 of the bill does not change the current application of the Civil Code in
regards to early marriage, but has a strong focus on education and expanding knowledge on
women’s issues, such as calling for educational courses for judges and other judiciary staff and it
would obligate the state broadcaster to produce more programmes that promote the support of
women and the prevention of violence against them as family values.12 The bill has been under
review since 201013 and was approved by the Iranian Government in January 2021. Before it
becomes legally binding, the bill must be approved by the Parliament and the Guardian Council.
During its 2019 UPR, the Government of Iran noted that forced marriage is prohibited under
Article 1062 of the Civil Code and Article 646 of the Islamic Penal Code.14 Yet with a court’s
permission, a legal guardian has the right to legally enter a child daughter into a compulsory
marriage, regardless of whether she gives free and informed consent to the marriage.15
Additionally, virgin girls and women above the age of 13 years old, who are marrying for the
first time, are legally required to have their father’s or paternal grandfather’s permission.16
In 2016, the Committee on the Rights of the Child stated that the legal age of marriage in the
Islamic Republic of Iran “gravely violated rights under the Convention [on the Rights of the
Child] and placed children, in particular girls, at risk of forced, early and temporary marriages,
with irreversible consequences on their physical and mental health and development.”17
Child marriage persists in Iran because the domestic law does not prohibit forced and underage
marriage of children, allowing such practices to continue. Iranian laws have not yet been
amended to address these concerns. Between March 2018 and March 2019, the National
Organization for Civil Registration reported over 30,000 marriages involving girls between the
9
Universal Periodic Review, Iran, 2019, <https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/12 >
Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, Centre for Supporters of Human Rights and Minority Rights Group International,
September 2019, <https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1203136/download >; Iran Newspaper, 4 October 2015:
<https://bit.ly/2youDGX >
11
https://shenasname.ir/laws/7023
12
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/2/28/protecting-dignity-irans-push-to-fight-violence-against-women
13
Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, Centre for Supporters of Human Rights and Minority Rights Group International, September
2019, <https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1203136/download >
14
Universal Periodic Review, 2019, Reply of the Islamic Republic of Iran, <https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/43/12/Add.1 >
15
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, <https://iranhrdc.org/wpcontent/uploads/pdf_en/LegalCom/Womens_Rights_Commentary_389929723.pdf >
16
NGO Submission Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2016,
<https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CRC_NGO_IRN_19809_E.pdf >
17
CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4, para. 27-28 <https://undocs.org/en/CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4 >
10
2