The National Organization for Civil Registration of Iran announced that nearly 70,000 babies were born to mothers in the age group of 10 to 19 years, which is considered a high-risk age group for pregnancy.
According to the report, at the same time, 1,474 babies were born to mothers aged 10 to 14.
The National Statistics Center of Iran announced last year that the marriages of nearly 10,000 girl children between 10 to 14 in spring 2021 show a 32% increase compared to the same period last year.
Child marriage is one of the most evident examples of violence against women.
Still, child marriage is encouraged under the rule of the mullahs in Iran, leading to a growing number of child mothers.
In November 2021, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, announced the final approval of the Population Growth Plan. The plan, which is Ali Khamenei’s executive policy, proposed in 2013, aims at increasing the number of marriages and child birthing, and population growth.
Concerns about the violation of the rights of women, especially girls, have increased with the implementation of the Youth plan.
The United Nations human rights experts said the population growth plan adopted by the clerical regime in early November was in “clear contravention of international law.”
The rights experts called on the Iranian regime to repeal the new law that “severely restricts access to abortion, contraception, voluntary sterilization services and related information, in direct violation of women’s human rights under international law.”
