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| Simin Sabri |
According to Simin Sabri, the lack of media and education in the native language in non-Persian regions of Iran holds back the awareness and social development of girls and their families. In an interview with Voice of America, the Southern Azerbaijani cultural activist evaluated the high rate of early marriages of girls in Iran and the connection between these social issues and ethnic discrimination.
According to the official statistics published by Iranian state institutions, more than 30,000 girls under the age of 15 were married in the first 9 months of the previous year (1392 in the solar calendar).
In Simin Sabri’s opinion, this statistic shows that there is a deep crisis in human rights, women's rights, and children's rights.
“Marrying children at such an age is considered an assault according to human rights norms,” said the Southern activist, commenting on the family structure and social class characteristics of children who are married at an early age.
According to her, child marriages are most often seen in extremely religious families that consider early marriage normal based on Sharia law, as well as in poor families facing economic difficulties and having many children.
Simin Sabri emphasized that the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran play a significant role in this social crisis. She also pointed out the Iranian government’s policies aimed at increasing the country’s population.
A women’s rights activist living in Norway highlighted that the number of girls married at an early age is higher in regions where there is no access to education in the native language and no media.
“This problem needs to be addressed by raising awareness among girls and their families. However, in poor regions, where there is no access to education in the native language, girls face problems at school. Additionally, since their families do not speak Persian, they cannot use TV programs,” she noted, emphasizing that these regions are lagging behind in terms of social development and education.
Simin Sabri called on Southern organizations to engage in serious and planned work on social issues related to women’s rights.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Erkən yaşda evləndirilən qızlar və ana dilində maarifləndirmə