News Center- Divorced women in Iran face many challenges due to the country’s patriarchal laws, customs and traditions. Most of them are victims of child marriages. In the country, the rate of divorce has increased. In the first six months of 2022, 225,000 marriages and 94,288 divorce cases were registered in Iran, according to official statistics. In the first six months of 2021, 296,401 marriages and 94,280 divorce cases were registered. The legal age for marriage in Iran is 13 for girls and 15 for boys. So most of girls and boys become the victims of child marriage. Many women victims of child marriage, who are subjected to violence by their husbands, stay silent in fear of the consequences of divorce. NuJINHA spoke to several women, victims of child marriage, in Iran. We do not use the real names of women we interviewed.

 ‘I remained silent not to lose my child’

 “I wanted to marry someone else but my parents forced me into marriage to keep me away from that person. I was 17 when I was forced into marriage. One year later, I gave birth to my son. My husband was a drug addict. He threatened to kill me if I asked for a divorce. I remained silent for years not to lose my child. When my son grew up, I filed a divorce case,” sad Julie Ahmadi, 40, one of the child marriage victims.

‘My father did not support me’

Somaya Mohammadi, a 22-year-old woman having a seven-year-old son, told her story to NuJINHA. “After my parents got divorced, my father remarried. When I was 13, I was forced into a marriage with a man ten years older than me. I was subjected to violence by him. I told my father that I was subjected to violence by my husband; however, my father did not support me and told me that I must obey my husband. After years, I filed a divorce case. My father sometimes threatens to kill me because I am now a divorced woman.”

‘The court allowed my husband to remarry before our divorce’

 36-year-old Sara Ahmadzadeh has a five-year-old son. “I endured all the difficulties for years during my marriage. My husband and my family told me that we would have a good marriage if we had a child. After giving birth to my son, our marriage became unbearable because my husband was a drug addict. At first I did not dare to say to my family that I asked for a divorce because my family cares about what other people will think. Finally, I filed a divorce case. However, the court prolonged the divorce and allowed my husband to remarry before our divorce. Now, I am a divorced woman and I am not allowed to see my son,” she said.

 

The story of 24-year-old Shadi Karmian is not different from the stories of other women. “I was forced into marriage when I was 17. In the first years of our marriage, my husband was good to me. I gave him my salary to cover all expenses. Then, everything changed. He began to inflict violence against me. I asked for a divorce. My family does not support me now.”