Temporary and Child Marriages in Iran and Afghanistan: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Issues

161 Pages·2021·2.169 MB·English

by  S. Behnaz Hosseini (editor)

S. Behnaz Hosseini   Editor
Temporary and
Child Marriages
in Iran and
Afghanistan
Historical Perspectives and
Contemporary Issues
Temporary and Child Marriages in Iran
and Afghanistan
S. Behnaz Hosseini
Editor
Temporary and Child
Marriages in Iran
and Afghanistan
Historical Perspectives and Contemporary
Issues
Editor
S.BehnazHosseini
DepartmentofAnthropology(FRSG)Group
UniversityofOxford,London,UK
ISBN978-981-33-4468-6 ISBN978-981-33-4469-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4469-3
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Foreword
ChildMarriage,TemporaryMarriage,and“Honor”Killing:
VariationsontheThemeofViolenceAgainstWomen
OnapleasantafternoononMay21,2020,inabeautifulvillageinnorthernIran,a
14-year-oldgirlwasmercilesslybeheaded.Thekillerwasnoneotherthanherown
father. The news stunned the villagers and shook many Iranians to the core. The
littlegirl’s“crime”wasnotsomuchherdesiretomarryamantwiceherage,given
variouslyas28or35,butthatshehadelopedwithhimafterherfatherrefusedthem
permissiontomarrybecausethesuitorwasaSunni.Ragingmad,thefathersought
toredeemhishonor.Heispresentlyinjailawaitingpunishment,thoughunderthe
currentlegalsystemintheIslamicRepublicofIran,fatherswhokilltheirdaughters
aretreatedleniently,giventhreetotenyearsimprisonmentmaximum.Hadthefather
killedthesuitorinsteadofhisdaughter,however,hispunishmentwouldhavebeen
executionandpaymentofbloodmoney,dieh,tohisfamily.Itlaterbecameclearthat
thefatherhadconsultedalawyerpriortothekillingandlearnedofthedifferencesin
punishmentformurderofthesuitorandmurderofhisowndaughter(Mohammadi
andJa’farzadeh2020).
Butwhataboutthemanwhohadseducedthisyounggirlsometwoyearsearlier?
Where and how did he get to meet her? How did he gain her trust to the point of
luring her away from her family? Did he display concern and affection—genuine
or feigned—that she might not have experienced at home? What about the young
girlherself?Wasthisgirlprecocious,andhercaseunusual?Isthereanyrelationship
between(dis)honorkillingandchildmarriage?
Whatistherelationshipbetweenchildmarriageandtemporarymarriage?Ibelieve
the three phenomena are often intimately interrelated, though not necessarily so.
Further, all three phenomena are manifestations of patriarchal domination that in
thepastfewdecadeshavebecomemoremilitarizedandideologicalinmostMuslim
states.
AllthepapersinthistimelyvolumebyS.BehnazHosseiniaddressvariationson
thethemeofchildmarriageandtemporarymarriageinIran,Afghanistan,andIraq,
highlighting the embedded violence against women—even in situations where the
v
vi Foreword
younggirlsorwomenwillinglyenterthesetypesofmarriages.InboththeIslamic
RepublicofIranandtheIslamicRepublicofAfghanistan,thelegalsystemisideo-
logicallychargedandislargelybasedonShari’a,Islamiclaw.Butinbothsocieties,
the law—the Islamic law—is often interpreted opportunistically and capriciously,
projectingissuesandsituationsthatemanatefromcontemporaryandmodernissues
back on to the early days of Islam. It does not much matter whether a society is
predominantlyShiaorSunni.BothIranandAfghanistanhavetograpplewithissues
ofchildmarriage,temporarymarriage,andviolenceagainstwomen,buttovarying
degrees.Inthefollowingpages,Ibrieflydiscussthesethreeformsofsexualunion
andgenderrelations,withgreaterattentiontoIran.
“Childmarriage”isnotamodernphenomenon,norisitrestrictedtotheIslamic
societies.Modernity,however,hasengenderedaglobalmovetowarddefiningwho
isachildandwhatconstituteschildmarriage.AccordingtotheUnitedNationsChil-
dren’s Fund (UNICEF 2020), child marriage is “any formal marriage or informal
unionbetweenachildundertheageof18andanadultoranotherchild.”Childhood
and adulthood, however, are stages of the lifecycle that are not uniformly defined
cross-culturallyorlegallyregulateduniversally.Culturalbeliefsandpractices,like-
wise,arenotnecessarilycongruentandharmoniouswithlegalrulesandregulations.
Childhood and adulthood are concepts woven into the warp and weft of cultural
customsandreligiousbeliefs.Modernityandcolonization,however,haveconfronted
traditional societies with irreconcilable conundrums, where legal, cultural, educa-
tional,andreligiousdomainscrisscross,oftenfrustratingtheeffortsatchangeinone
domain,ifnotcancelingeachotheroutcompletely.Inbothpost-TalibanAfghanistan
andpost-revolutionaryIran,legalinjunctionscontinuetolagbehindculturalchanges
andpractices.
Althoughchildmarriagehasdecreasedworldwide“fromoneinfourgirlsmarried
adecadeagotoapproximatelyoneinfivetoday,”thepracticeremainswidespread
(UNICEF2020).Suchpersistenceisdespitemostcountries,includingIran,having
signed the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It is
noteworthythatwhilemostpresent-daynationstateshavesoughttoregulatecertain
activitiesonthebasisoftheageoftheircitizens,correspondingtodifferentstagesof
thelifecycle(e.g.,employment,voting,driving,militaryservice,drinking,election
to state offices), they have resisted when it comes to age restriction for marriage,
particularly girls’ first marriage. In other words, faced with modernity and glob-
alization, countries such as Iran and Afghanistan have exhibited conflicting, if not
contradictory,reactions.While,forexample,modernizingtheireducationalsystem
and providing almost universal education, these countries have adamantly refused
toharmonizemarriageandfamilylawswithchanginggenderrelations.Inthecase
of Iran, this incongruity is even more evident as the state, both before and after
therevolutionof1979,initiatednationwideeducationforall.Thehighliteracyrate
in Iran for both boys and girls is evidence of such national efforts. The Taliban in
Afghanistan,ontheotherhand,restrictednationwideeducation,makingitprimarily
aprerogativeofboysandmen.Bothsocieties,however,haveoutdatedmarriageand
family laws that are skewed in favor of men, and patronizing toward women (i.e.,
treatingwomenasminorswhoneedsupervision,presumably“fortheirowngood”).
Foreword vii
Suchambivalence,ifnotoutrightopposition,tochangingpatternsofmarriageand
familyrelations,eveninthefaceofgrowingdemandbymanyconcernedcitizens,
however,isnotlimitedtopoliticizedandideologicallychargedsocietiessuchasIran
andAfghanistan.Onemaystillseeremnantsofitinasdeveloped asocietyasthe
USAorinAfricanandAsiansocieties.AccordingtoNicholasKristof,writinginthe
NewYorkTimes,thestateswiththehighestratesofchildmarriagesintheUSAare
Arkansas,Idaho,andKentucky.
The number of child marriages has been falling, but every state in America still allows
underagegirlstomarry,typicallywiththeconsentofparents,ajudgeorboth.Twenty-seven
states do not even set a minimum age by statute…. In the state of New Hampshire the
Republican-ledHousevotedtokillabill,leavingtheminimumageat13.(Kristof2017)
Moreover, “Niger and Indonesia, two Muslim-majority countries, have very
different child marriage rates: 76% and 14%. The Central African Republic and
Mexico,wheremostpeopleareChristiandotoo:68%versus23%.Moreover,India,
aHindu-majoritycountry,hasthehighestnumberofchildbridesintheworld”(Girls
NotBridesn.d.).
Even where some concession was given to Iranian activists’ sustained pressure
to raise the age of marriage from nine to thirteen in 2005, the Guardian Council
allowedforloopholes,underwhicha“father”or“judge”wasempoweredtoallow
forthemarriageofanunderagechild,effectivelynullifyingtheefficacyofthelaw.
Additionally, faced with the continually rising age of first marriage for women in
Iranandtheskyrocketingrateofdivorce,thestatehasdoubleddownonitsadvocacy
ofthebenefitsofearlymarriages,highlightingthe“advantages”ofmarryingearlier.
Large collective marriages of several hundreds of young girls and boys have been
organized by the state with the newlyweds being given some attractive financial
incentives.Suchtelevisedandpubliclycelebratedceremonies havecreatedahuge
reservoirof“socialcapital”thatappealtomanyyounggirls,whichinturnencourages
familiestomarryofftheiryoungdaughters.
AccordingtoaUNICEF(2014)report,thenumberofchildmarriagesworldwide
was listed as 700 million. The report warned that if this trend were to continue,
by2050,thisnumber wouldreachonebillionunderage marriedgirls.InIran,and
possiblyinAfghanistan,accurateandreliablestatisticsarelacking.Thisisparticu-
larlytrueinthecasesofchildmarriageandtemporarymarriage,withhonorkillings
oftengoingunreportedaltogether.Butaccordingtothe“GirlsNotBrides”website,
17%ofgirlsinIranaremarriedbeforetheageof18and3%aremarriedbeforetheageof
15.TheUNSpecialRapporteurontheSituationofHumanRightsinIranreportsthatabout
40,635marriagesofgirlsunder15yearsofagewereregisteredbetween2012and2013,of
whichmorethan8,000involvedmenwhowereatleasttenyearsolder.(GirlsnotBrides
n.d.)
Likewise,accordingtotheavailabledatainIran,asreflectedinthestatisticsof
thecentralcensusbureau,from2012to2016,morethan40,000marriagesofgirls
under14wereregistered.Evenmoreproblematicisthatin2011therewereatleast
716 marriages of girls under the age of 10, almost twice higher than that of 2008
(Radio Farda 2019). But still, where a girls’ age is not correctly recorded, many
viii Foreword
marry unofficially and without registration. The discouraging point, according to
thereport,isthatnotmuchhaschangedintheinterveningyearssince2007.Such
consistency and increase, incremental though it may be, in child marriage in Iran
demonstratethattheeffortsofcivilactivists,lawyers,andtheprogressivemediato
addressandhopefullytoresolvethissocialproblemcontinuestobestymied(Yasa
blog2017).TheconundrumfacedbythestateinIranisstructural.Thatistosay,the
population is becoming increasingly older, the birth rate is falling, the age of first
marriageisrisingforbothwomenandmen(23and26,respectively),andthedivorce
ratecontinuesitsupwardgraph.Panickedbysuchunexpectedsocialtrends,thestate
inIranisturningtowardencouragingandenticingayoungercohortofgirlstomarry,
andforthatithasattemptedtoprovideallkindsofincentives,asmentionedearlier.
In post-Taliban Afghanistan, while efforts are made to discourage and reduce
childmarriage,still“over40%ofgirlsaremarriedbeforetheageof18,andcultural
practicessuchaschildbetrothalandexchangemarriages(familiesexchangingtheir
daughters) contribute to its high prevalence” (Girls not Brides n.d.). Two popular
casesthatmayrepresentthetragedyofchildmarriageinAfghanistan,include,the
2003film,Osama,directedbySiddiqBarmak.Thefilmtakesplaceduringtheheyday
of the Taliban in Afghanistan, where the mobility of women, particularly those
responsible for providing for their families, was curtailed and most women were
strictlyforbiddenfromleavingtheirhomes.Barmakrefusedtogivethefilmahappy
ending, wishing to reflect the oppressive social life at the time. Faced with substi-
tuting for her mother as the breadwinner, the 12-year-old girl, “Osama,” becomes
dramatically caught in a no-win situation: either facing execution or marrying her
oldwould-beexecutioner,whohadalreadybeenmarriedthreetimes,noneofthem
happy.Theviolenceagainsttheyounggirlispainfullyportrayedinthelastsceneof
thefilmwheretheoldman,havingconsummatedthemarriage,immerseshimselfin
water,asrequiredbyreligiousregulations.Thetragedyofforcedmarriageforyoung
girls is also highlighted in Sonita, a powerful documentary about a young Afghan
girllivinginIran.Whenhervideo“BridesforSale,”producedbyherIranianpatron,
wentviral,the16-year-oldSonitawasabletorefuseherparents’pushtogetmarried.
ShecouldescapeherunwantedmarriageandwasalsoinvitedtotheUSA,whereshe
hascontinuedhereffortstofightagainstchildmarriage.
Reasonsforthepersistenceofchildmarriagesarediverseandofteninterrelated,
including poverty, cultural customs, religious beliefs, differences in social class,
education,bullyingfathers,andmale“honor.”Ontheotherhand,giventheimmense
social capital associated with marriage in many societies, the lure of marriage for
manyyounggirlsmayalsobetoohightoignore.Parents,particularlyfathers,pres-
sure their daughters, often through their wives, to accept an unwanted marriage.
Sometimes, a young child may be raped by a family member and then forced to
marrythepersonwhorapedher.Often,childmarriagesarearrangedbetweenyoung
girlsandmucholdermen,whereimpoverishedfamiliesmayforcetheiryoungdaugh-
tersintotemporarymarriages.Becauseofthebrideprice,mahr,paymentfromthe
groom to the bride and or to her family, frequent temporary marriages provide a
sourceofsupportforpoorfamilies.WhenIwasconductingmyfieldworkinIranin
the1980andduringtheearlydaysoftherevolution,ImetafamilyinsouthTehran,
Foreword ix
whoseyoungestdaughterwouldundertakefrequenttemporarymarriagestosupport
herwidowedmother.
Child marriage and temporary marriage both gained a resurgence in post-
revolutionaryIran,butfordifferentreasonsandaddressingdifferentsocial,political,
and ideological purposes. Contrary to what some Iranians may believe, temporary
marriage was never outlawed inIran,but had mostlya subterranean lifeunder the
Pahlavi regime (1925–1979), ignored by the state. Popularly perceived as “legal-
izedprostitution,”temporarymarriagehasbeenculturallymarginalizedandcontin-
uallystigmatized.Apre-Islamicformofsexualunion,temporarymarriage,mut’aor
sigheh,isaformofmarriagewherehowlongthemarriagewilllastandhowmuch
moneywillbegiventothetemporarywife,the“brideprice,”shouldbothbespecified
attheoutset.Thedurationofatemporarymarriagemaybeasshortasonehourto
as long as ninety-nine years, and the term used for the “bride price” in the Quran
(4: 24) is “ujuruhunna,” (sing. ajr), meaning reward (Haeri 1989, 53–54). There
is no divorce procedure in this form of marriage, as the end of the specified time
automaticallyterminatesthemarriage.Childrenbornofsuchunionsareconsidered
legitimatebytheShi’is,thoughthespouseslegallydonotinheritfromeachother,
unless otherwise specified in the original contract. While historically this form of
marriagehasbeenlegalandpracticedamongtheShi’ias,ithasbeenforbiddenamong
the Sunnis. Variations on the theme of temporary marriage, however, have existed
inmanySunni-majoritycountries,butfunctionedunderadifferentterminology,as
discussedbyHasso(2011),andSindawi(2013).
With the establishment of the Islamic Republic, there was an attempt to give
temporarymarriageaface-lift,makeitrespectable,andactivelypromoteit.Tempo-
rary marriage was reintroduced to post-revolutionary Iranian society as “the most
brilliantlawofIslam”andarguedtobefarsuperiortomodern“free”genderrelations
intheWest,eveninasliberalaplaceasSweden(Haeri1989).Simultaneously,the
IslamicRepublicdismantledtheFamilyProtectionLaw(FPL)of1967.Underthe
FPL,aman’slegalrighttopluralmarriageswasrestrictedandmadesubjecttothe
firstwife’sconsent.TheFPL,however,didnotaddressthehistoricallyproblematic
temporarymarriageatall.Further,undertheFPL,theageoffirstmarriageforgirls
wasincreasedto15andchangedto18laterin1973.Custodyofchildrenwastobe
determinedbythecourtandbasedonthechild’swelfare.
The legally sacrosanct right of the father as the guardian, vali, of his daughter
andthelegalrequirementtoobtainhisconsenttohisdaughter’sfirstmarriagehas
beenupheldbyboththeSunnisandtheShi’as,thoughmoreconsistentlyamongthe
former.TheSunnishavedonesosystematicallyandconsistently,buttheShi’ashave
equivocated,partlybecauseofthepermissibilityoftemporarymarriage(Haeri1989,
54).TheShi’Iulama(clerics)havehistoricallydebatedtheissueofwhetherornot
anunmarriedmaturewomanhastherighttoarrangeforherownpermanentandor
temporarymarriage.Presently,undertheIslamicRepublic’slegalsystem,afather’s
righttocontrolhisdaughter’schoiceofmarriage,hisrightofguardianship,vilayat,
isupheld,andhisconsentforherfirstmarriageisnecessary,regardlessofherage.
Inpresent-dayAfghanistan,temporarymarriagedoesnotfareaswellasitdoesin
Iran.ThedifferencemightbeduetoSunnidominanceintheAfghanistanorfearofthe
x Foreword
puritanicalpoliciesoftheTaliban,whentheywereinpower.However,inadditionto
theShi’IHazaraamongwhomthisformofmarriageislegalandpracticed(although
itisnotclearhowwidely),AfghanimmigrantsreturningtoAfghanistanfromIran
or migrating back and forth between the two countries, seem to have contributed
to loosening cultural inhibitions regarding this form of marriage and the stigma
associated with it. Either way, other than anecdotal cases, no reliable statistics are
availableastothepopularityoftemporarymarriageandtheextentofitspracticein
Afghanistan(BahgamandMukhatari2004).
Childmarriage,asmentionedabove,hasbeenhistoricallywidespreadandisnot
exclusivetoMuslimsocieties.However,insocietiessuchasIranandAfghanistan,
where temporary marriage is condoned—more so in Iran than in Afghanistan—
child marriage and temporary marriage often go hand in hand. Both forms of
marriage,asmentionedabove,havetheirrootsinpatriarchalpoliticalsystemsand
legal/religiousstructuresthatholdwomenasobjectsofmalehonorthatoughttobe
under their control and domination. Perceived as objects to be owned, controlled,
and/ordiscardedatthemale’spleasure,womenwhodefythemaleorderpayahigh
price for exercising their agency. Popular sentiments, however, may be slowly—
very slowly—changing and, with that, also such oppressive violation of women’s
humanrightsandforcedchildmarriages,andtemporarymarriage.Thebrutalkilling
of Romina, the little girl mentioned at the beginning of this paper, has provoked
so much anger and outrage that even the current head of the judiciary in Iran has
promisedthemaximumpenaltyforthefather.Itremainstobeseen,however,how
genuinelyhetransfershispainoverRomina’smurdertolegalchangesthatprotect
womenagainstendemicviolence.
ShahlaHaeri
DepartmentofAnthropology,BostonUniversity,
Boston,MA,USA
[email protected]
[email protected]
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Kristof,N.(2017).https://tinyurl.com/y3hz2eh9.RetrievedSept2,2020.
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