Intervention written on early and forced child marriage in Iran

Submitted to: The 41st session of the Human Rights Council

Submitted by: Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights (holds a consultative status in the United Nations Economic and Social Council).

Concerning: Item 3: Concerning the High Commissioner's report on early and forced child marriage with a focus on the humanitarian situation (Human Rights Council Resolution No. 35/16)

The phenomenon of underage girls ’marriage is rampant in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which usually does not believe in the rights of women to complete their studies and choose their life partner and choose their own clothes. And often the end of these marriages is failure, because they lack the basic criteria that the spouses must meet.

According to specialist doctors, early marriage has dangerous dimensions and negative repercussions on the health of women, children and society, as most research and medical studies indicate that complications of pregnancy and childbirth increase sharply in cases of early marriage than in cases of marriage after the age of 18 years, the most important of which are cases of preeclampsia and fetal weakness. This leads to a high death rate among newborns. There are also other consequences of early marriage, including the inability to conceive or give birth to deformed children, and the large number of childbearing that stresses women and causes many diseases, such as breast cancer and cervical cancer, and the increase in divorce cases among married couples at an early age.