The marriage rate of Iranian girls aged 10-14 last year increased by 10.5 percent compared to 2019, according to reports by the country’s Statistics Center.
The official report said 31,379 girls in that age group were married in 2020 compared to 28,373 cases the previous year.
This is the statistic for child marriages registered with the Civil Registry Office. Activists believe that the actual number is much higher as most such marriages remain unregistered.
The legal age for marriage in Iran is 13 years for girls and 15 years for boys, but it is acceptable for children younger to be married with a father's permission.
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, called for "immediate reforms" in the Islamic republic's treatment of women and girls in a report to the UN Human Rights Council in March.
