An article in IranWire, dated February 2020, considered ‘One of the main reasons for the prevalence of child and forced marriages in Iran is the poverty and economic desperation of poor and large families. Marrying daughters means lowering family costs. Studies show that the greater the economic prosperity and the higher the level of welfare, the lower the rate of forced marriages.’ [footnote 143] Women in Iran are subject to restrictions imposed by both their family and society. The country has a patriarchal culture that gives men power over women and property. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, the subordinate status of women in Iranian society is perpetuated by two main factors: patriarchal values and attitudes favouring the norm of male supremacy and a state-promoted institutional structure based on hard-liner interpretations of Islamic principles. While the former is a universal phenomenon, the latter is particular to Iran’s gender politics and policies prevalent in the country since the 1979 Revolution. Both factors emphasize the notion that a woman’s role is primarily that of a wife and a mother, which is used as justification for restricting women’s public lives.’ [footnote 91] For further guidance on assessing risk, see the instruction on Assessing Credibility and Refugee Status.

The Danish Immigration Service report of 2018 noted, according to various sources, that a person may marry without their family’s consent if a court approves it [footnote 114]. However, ‘The father’s legal permission is necessary if a virgin woman wants to marry with the consent of her family. In the absence of the father, the paternal grandfather has the legal capacity to give consent to the marriage. If a woman has a record of previous marriage, no consent by father or grandfather will be required when entering into a marriage.’ [footnote 115] Child marriage also has a negative impact on educational attainment. In Iran, married girls cannot attend the same schools as unmarried girls, which is often a reason for interruption of education. Child brides are also likely to become mothers at a young age. In the Imam Ali report, 44 per cent of married girls surveyed reported not using any form of contraception. Early pregnancy not only adds to the likelihood that girls will be pulled away from school, but also involves serious health risks. 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]the section of the constitution that guaranteed equality has omitted gender equality and provided equality to women only if Islamic law is observed. According to Article 20 of the Constitution of the IRI, all members of the nation, both men and women, shall receive equal protection under the legal system and shall enjoy all human, political, economic, social and cultural rights, but with a fundamental condition at the end which changes everything: “…in conformity with Islamic criteria”… a) ‘Vital Statistics General Book: The birth of each person is registered in this book at the beginning and then the events related to marriage, divorce, revocation of divorce, waiver of enjoyment of wife’s company for the remaining period in a temporary marriage, spouse’s death, children’s birth or death, and the holder’s death is registered in this book from the contents of notices and documents.’ [footnote 36] A December 2001 report by the Iran Chamber Society, while almost 20 years old at the time of writing continues to remain relevant, provided a compressive overview of wedding customs in Iran [footnote 105]. In brief, Persian wedding customs and ceremonies originate from ancient Zoroastrian religious rituals and vary depending on region and between families [footnote 106]. A wedding traditionally includes two stages – the legal and contractual ceremony (Aghd or Aghed) and the reception (Jashn-e Aroosi) [footnote 107] [footnote 108]. Marriages in Iran may incorporate both traditional and non-traditional customs [footnote 109] [footnote 110].

This section analyses the evidence relevant to this note - that is information in the COI section; refugee/human rights laws and policies; and applicable caselaw - by describing this and its inter-relationships, and provides an assessment of, in general, whether one or more of the following applies: Decision makers should also refer to the instruction on Gender issues in the asylum claim and Processing children’s asylum claims. 2. Consideration of issues 2.1 Credibility Women in Iran are subject to systematic discrimination on the basis of gender, which stems from culture, religion, society and legislation. The country’s male-dominated and conservative governance structure is conducive to discrimination against women in multiple spheres of society from criminal and family law to education and employment. Iran is one of the few countries in the world that have not ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).According to Quran (2:221) Muslim men are free to marry fellow-Muslim women but they are forbidden to marry women from idolatrous communities unless they embrace Islam. They are, however, expressly allowed to marry upright women from the ahl-al-kitab, “people of the book”, meaning Jews and Christians, and, according to Shi’a, Zoroastrians, who are followers of the divine religions with a revealed scripture (5:6).