According to most Shi’i scholars, a girl is eligible to marry at eight years and nine months and a boy at fourteen years and seven months, when they are supposed to have reached puberty and can reproduce. Despite this, there are some Shi’i mujtahid who oppose the majority Shi’i ruling on the age of marriage and advocate for eliminating child marriage because of the harm it causes to the child’s life as well as to the religion. While after the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the minimum age of marriage was dropped to the age approved by shari’a law (nine and fifteen), in August 2003, and under pressure from the female members of the Iranian parliament, the age of marriage was raised to thirteen for girls; however, a clause was added stating that earlier marriage is allowed if the girl’s guardian and an Islamic court approve the girl’s readiness for marriage. This clause has in fact made the application of the law regarding the minimum age of marriage arbitrary.’ [footnote 132] According to a report on gender inequality in Iran, published in 2013 by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC), ‘Under Islamic Shari’a marriage is not considered as a sacrament but defined as a civil contract between a man and his wife.’ [footnote 1] Religious marriages must be registered with the authorities to be considered legally valid by the state [footnote 2]. Although child marriages were most common in rural areas, according to a lawyer in Tehran specialising in children’s rights, child marriages were spreading into urban areas [footnote 152]. Speaking to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in 2020, on condition of anonymity, the lawyer said, ‘Until now, child marriage was a phenomenon mostly seen in villages and small towns but now it has become a big problem among those living in the margins of the cities.’ [footnote 153]

Women’s threshold for turning to the justice system can be extremely high, as there is often a social stigma attached. Iran’s traditional culture views divorce and talking about marital problems as shameful, which is why friends and relatives of women who are victims of domestic violence often pressure them to keep quiet about the issue for as long as possible. Article 1107 of the Civil Code states that maintenance includes ‘dwelling, clothing, food [and] furniture in proportion to the situation of the wife…’ [footnote 46], although this right to maintenance is forfeited ‘If the wife refuses to fulfil duties of a wife without legitimate excuse…’ [footnote 47] According to the 2013 IHRDC report, ‘A wife’s disobedience can also create legal grounds for polygamy, divorce, or domestic violence…’ [footnote 48] 3.6 Divorce and child custody The USSD’s Bureau of Consular Affairs provided details of marriage certificates (Sanad-e aghd, Sanad Sanad-e ezdevaj) and divorce certificates (Sanad-e Talagh), including a description of the documents, issuing authority and the procedure for obtaining such certificates [footnote 82]. The USSD also noted ‘In addition to marriages and divorces having their own documentation, the information should also be recorded in both parties’ shenasnameh (birth certificate) documents.’ [footnote 83] A woman may seek divorce through the courts [footnote 57] [footnote 58] [footnote 59], although, as noted in the Finnish Immigration Service report:The Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre, Landinfo, provided information in a report on Iran’s welfare system, based on a range of sources, dated August 2020, and noted the State Welfare Organization (SWO), part of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare, offered avenues of support for women and girls affected by domestic violence, including 2 hotlines (123 – a general line, but also for victims of domestic violence – and 1480 for children) to the social emergency institution (urzhans-e ejte The Court of Appeal in SC (Jamaica) v Home Secretary [2017] EWCA Civ 2112 held that, ‘the evaluative exercise is intended to be holistic and … no burden or standard of proof arises in relation to the overall issue of whether it is reasonable to internally relocate’ (paragraph 36). When assessing internal relocation, in the reported case of TB (PSG, women) Iran [2005] UKIAT 00065 (09 March 2005), the Tribunal took into account the position in Iranian society of the persons feared. In the case of TB, the appellant feared her father and intended husband (a Mullah), both of whom were members of the Niru-Entezami (Law Enforcement Forces – LEF). The Tribunal concluded that an internal relocation alternative was not realistically available due to the influence of the appellant’s potential persecutors on the state authorities and mechanisms (paragraphs 68 and 69.v).

According to journalist and author, Ramita Navai, speaking in 2016, ‘… arranged marriages were more common in rural areas where there was more pressure to marry whoever your parents tell you to… but there is rarely pressure to marry someone you don’t want to marry in the cities.’ [footnote 118] 5.3 Kurdish marriages Book 7, Section 1 of the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran [footnote 3] outlines the provisions relating to marriage:The 2013 IHRDC report noted that ‘… the natural guardian (vali-ye-qahri: father or paternal grandfather) has the right to marry for and on behalf of his minor daughter, in compulsory marriage. While in other Islamic schools the natural guardian has the right to marry even for his adult daughter, in Hanafi and Shi’ite law, only minor girls may be contracted in compulsory marriage, and adult women may conclude their own marriage contracts.’ [footnote 112] However, the report also explained that ‘… even adult women are not completely free to marry for the first time at their own discretion. There is still a restriction which affects their freedom of marriage as long as they are a “virgin”.’ [footnote 113] in stark contrast to Saudi Arabia and countries with similar gender oppression, Iranian women have the equal right to drive, vote, do not need to be accompanied by a male member of their families in public places, and have surpassed men in university entrance exams unlike any other country in the region. However, despite these relative strides, the IRI [Islamic Republic of Iran] legal system recognizes women as dependent upon men and incomplete human beings who need to be supervised and controlled by men and the State. While the IRI Constitution claims to guarantee equality for both genders, women are still treated as second class citizens under the IRI legal system. For instance… under the Islamic Penal Code, the value of a woman’s worth is only half that of a man’s. That is, blood money paid for murder or bodily injuries of a female victim is half that of a male victim; or, a woman’s testimony in court is given half the weight of a man’s testimony.’ [footnote 88] Decision makers should also refer to the instruction on Gender issues in the asylum claim and Processing children’s asylum claims. 2.7 Certification Amnesty International’s research shows that women face entrenched discrimination in family law and criminal law. Iran’s legal system puts women in a subordinate status relative to men. Under the penal code, the testimony of a woman is accorded half the value of that of a man. The age of criminal responsibility is set at nine lunar years (eight years and eight months) for girls but at 15 lunar years (14 years and six months) for boys. Women are also discriminated against under the Civil Code, notably in matters relating to marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance.’ [footnote 190] Child marriage is often a product of traditional, religious and cultural pressures. The Civil Code’s legalization of child marriage is based on marriage ages found in the state’s official version of Shi’a jurisprudence. In some traditional communities in Iran, girls are pledged by their parents to marry a cousin or distant relative at the time of her birth. Internal family dynamics, poverty, addiction and migration can also impact the likelihood of child marriage. Some families marry off their daughters in exchange for financial compensation.’ [footnote 140]

Kurdish media network, Rudaw, in an August 2020 article stated ‘Iranian personal statutes and family law are generally based on Jaafari [the dominant branch of Shiite Islam] jurisprudence, members of Iran’s religious minority groups – including Sunni Islam, practiced by the majority of Iran’s Kurds – have the right to regulate and administer family matters like marriage, divorce and child custody, according to their respective religious laws.’ [footnote 17]Normally, the mother cannot be a child’s legal guardian in Iran even if she has the right to raise the child in her home in practice. Legal guardianship, and therefore the power to make decisions about important matters pertaining to the child, such as marriage, financial arrangements and international travel, automatically belongs to the father. The mother can generally only gain legal custody of her children in the absence of the children’s father and paternal grandfather.’ [footnote 67] Amnesty International reported in its Submission for the UN Universal Periodic Review in November 2019 that: The Family Law in Iran paper noted that a temporary marriage remains valid ‘even if the contract stipulates that there will be no sexual intercourse.’ [footnote 26] A temporary marriage does not require a divorce as it ‘automatically expires after the pre-defined period of marriage has passed.’ [footnote 63] However, according to the Iranian Civil Code, any remaining period of a temporary marriage may be waived [footnote 64]. Divorces, whether permanent or revocable, must be registered with the relevant authorities [footnote 65] [footnote 66].