Sexual and Reproductive Health Challenges in Temporary Marriage: A Systematic Review

Background: Temporary marriage is a legal form of marriage in Shia Islam allowing a man and awoman to become married in a fixed period of time. This review was conducted to identify thepotential effects of temporary marriage on the sexual and reproductive health of women.Study design: A systematic reviewMethods: Electronic databases, including Web of Knowledge, Embase, PubMed, Scopus,ScienceDirect, PsycINFO, ProQuest, IranMedex, Scientific Information Database (SID), andMagiran, were searched up to October ۲۰۲۰ to identify the studies carried out on sexual andreproductive health challenges in temporary marriage. All the selected articles were assessed foreligibility according to their titles and abstracts.Results: During the search on articles published within ۱۹۹۵ to October ۲۰۲۰, ۱,۸۰۲ relevantrecords were identified, and after evaluation ۳۰ full-text papers were included in the presentsystematic review. Out of the ۳۴,۰۸۵ study participants in the selected studies, ۳,۵۴۷ subjects hadtemporary marriage who were studied under six different categories, namely (۱) sexuallytransmitted infections (STIs)/human immunodeficiency viruses, (۲) early child marriage, (۳)unplanned pregnancy and induced abortion, (۴) violence, (۵) psychosocial disorders, and (۶) otherissues. Individuals with temporary marriage are vulnerable and need to have easy access to healtheducation and sexual and reproductive health services in a safe and unprejudiced environment.Ignoring the aforementioned facts will cause serious public health problems, especially for womenfrom a lower socioeconomic background.Conclusions: In the current situation with under-reporting of temporary marriage-related eventsdue to social stigma and absence of quality services in sexual and reproductive health, women withtemporary marriage are under the additional risk of STIs, unwanted pregnancy, abortion, andviolence.

Keywords:

Induced Abortion , Sexually Transmitted Diseases , Unplanned Pregnancy , Temporary Marriage , Violence