This time we examine the issues of child brides and honor killings in Iran.
Although the legal age of marriage in Iran is 13, the law allows a girl’s father or paternal grandfather to wed her even at a younger age. And there have been many examples of girls being wed at age 9 and even as young as 5.
At least 100 marriages of girls under 15 every 24 hours. One should bear in mind that considering the Iranian regime’s lack of transparency, the published figures must be regarded as a minimum. 9,753 young girls between 10 and 14 were married in spring 2021.
The average rate of child marriage in Iran is 30% above the world average rate. Experts say this is the tip of an iceberg and the actual number of child marriages is 5 to 6 times greater.
A legal advisor to the Iranian Judiciary acknowledged a few years ago that “an average of 500,000 to 600,000 Iranian girls under 14 get married every year.”
Honor killings and femicides in Iran
Everyone heard the story of Mona Heydari, a young mother beheaded by her husband in Iran back in February. The horrific incident drew attention to the plight of women in Iran who enjoy no government or social support in the face of domestic violence. It also brought to light the fact that the country’s laws actually promote such brutal treatment of women.
None of the Iranian regime officials or leaders condemned the cold-blooded murder of this 17-year-old woman by her husband.
Ironically, some described the murderous husband as “oppressed.” This is while Mona was a battered woman who had filed for divorce several times, to no avail.
Now after three months, a judiciary spokesman just recently declared that no complaints had been filed against the murderer and Mona’s family had not sought retribution. As a result, the murderer will most probably be finally released.
This is what promotes honor killings in Iran, because the law does not criminalize violence against women, and it does not punish the murderers. The Iranian regime’s laws regard the father and the husband as owners of women and as such, they are entitled to do whatever they want to them.