the Islamic Penal Code.9 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.10 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.11 The Government of Iran has stated that when a case of forced marriage is reported to the Judiciary and a case is filed, the forced marriage can be dissolved in accordance with the Civil Code provisions and those who forced the marriage are prosecuted.12 However, underaged children lack access to redress and legal recourse as they cannot file lawsuits without the representation of their legal guardian.13 During its 2019 UPR, 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.”14 Reportedly, the bill would also prohibit forced and early marriage for girls under 18 years old.15 The current version16 of the bill does not change the current application of the Civil Code in regard 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.17 The bill has been under review since 2010,18 and was approved by the Iranian Government in January 2021. However, before it becomes legally binding, the bill must still be 9 Universal Periodic Review, 2019, Reply of the Islamic Republic of Iran, <https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/43/12/Add.1 > 10 Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, <https://iranhrdc.org/wpcontent/uploads/pdf_en/LegalCom/Womens_Rights_Commentary_389929723.pdf > 11 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 > 12 Universal Periodic Review, 2019, Reply of the Islamic Republic of Iran, <https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/43/12/Add.1 > 13 Suuntaus Project, Finnish Immigration Service- Country Information Service, ‘Violence against women and honour-related violence in Iran’, 26 June 2015, <http://www.migri.fi/download/61597_Suuntausraportti_VakivaltaIran_finalFINAL_kaannosversio_EN.pdf?96fa691925bfd288 > 14 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 > 16 https://shenasname.ir/laws/7023 17 https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/2/28/protecting-dignity-irans-push-to-fight-violence-against-women 18 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 > 15 2

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