Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran A/HRC/34/65 para 91 Full recommendation: The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to prohibit all forms of child marriage and develop awareness-raising campaigns and programmes on the harmful effects of this practice on the physical and mental health and well-being of girls, targeting households, local authorities, religious leaders, and judges and prosecutors, as recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1 Child marriage continues to be permitted under Iranian law. The legal minimum age for marriage is 13 for girls and 15 for boys.2 However, children who have reached puberty can marry with parental consent and court approval.3 The predefined age of puberty under the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the age of legal majority, is 9 lunar years for girls and 15 lunar years for boys.4 Marriage before puberty is criminalised under Article 50 of the Family Protection Act5 , while Article 646 of the Islamic Penal Code (2013) provides the punishment for such a crime.6 In 2018, a proposed amendment to Article 1041 of the Civil Code, that sought to raise the age of marriage for girls from 13 to 16 while allowing them to get married at a younger age with legal and medical approval, was rejected by the Parliament’s Committee for Judicial and Legal Affairs.7 In February 2019, the chair of the Committee stated that a “new plan” was to be introduced for the parliament’s approval and that of the Guardian Council.8 During its last Universal Periodic Review (November 2019), the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that the Act on Protection, Dignity and Security of Women against Violence, “aimed at criminalising new forms of assault, harassment and violations of the rights 1 CCPR.3.1.S.1; CCPR.23.4.S.1; CCPR.23.3.S.1; CRC.8.1.S.1; ESCR.3.S.1; CCPR.3.1.P.3; CCPR.16.1.P.1; CCPR.23.2.P.1; CCPR.23.3.P.1; ESCR.2.2.P.3; ESCR.2.2.P.1; ESCR.2.2.P.2; CCPR.3.1.O.4; CCPR.23.3.O.1; CRC.8.1.O.2; CCPR.2.1.O.1; ESCR.2.2.O.2 2 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 3 Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/wpcontent/uploads/pdf_en/LegalCom/Womens_Rights_Commentary_389929723.pdf 4 Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2016, CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4, paras. 27–28 https://undocs.org/en/CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4 5 Universal Periodic Review, Iran, 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/12 6 Islamic Penal Code (2013), Islamic Republic of Iran, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/islamicpenal-code-of-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-book-five/ 7 Amnesty International, UPR submission 2019, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1305732019ENGLISH.PDF 8 Information from Impact Iran; see www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1397/11/17/1941311/ 1

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