A Look at the Phenomenon of Child Marriage in Iran and the World

The recent statistics indicates child marriage has been a global concern especially in low and medium countries, so that more than 700 million of women were married before 18 years of age and out of them more than a third were less than 15 years. There is gender inequality in child marriage, so that it is more observed in girls (1). Some causes are introduced for incidence of child marriage including poverty and financial debility, extension of social network, and protection of girls against rape and violence (2). The consequences of child marriage are often far wider than just their impact on the individual children affected. The marriage of children has negative effects on families and communities. The practice thrives on poverty and impacts adversely on a country’s health and educational sector (1-3). Indeed child marriage in girls resulted in early pregnancy, social isolation, school dropout, reducing employment opportunities and increasing of domestic violence (3). According to important role of child marriage as a pivotal barrier in social and economic development, we encouraged that to write present letter. The letter aimed to provide a comparison of child marriage statistics in Iran and other parts of world, in addition to suggest some well-established solutions for reducing child marriage.

Keywords:

Child marriage , Iran , Prevalence , World