MPs Table Motions on Women, Children Rights
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iranian lawmakers have agreed to debate several motions on the rights of women and children in the Islamic Republic.
Under one of the proposals, the legal age for boys and girls will increase, and children under 13 will be prohibited from being married.
The MPs will put the motion to debate after a week-long parliamentary recess, said MP Fatemeh Zolqadr, a member of parliament’s women caucus.
"One of the existing problems is that girls and boys are married at very tender ages,” said the lawmaker.
Based on one of the motions, the legal age for marriage will be set at 18 for boys and 16 for girls and getting married below 13 and 15 will be possible under certain conditions, requiring paternal consent and a court ruling, the MP said.
The legislator also blasted those families which force their children into child marriage.
"Today, a number of children between 9 and 13 are forced by their families into marriage, which result in many problems and we are trying to stop it,” she said.
Child marriages, Zolqadr said, usually lead to numerous social maladies where the victims are often deprived of education and suffer many physical and mental abuses.
Another motion proposes military service for girls in educational, health and software capacities but the proposal has drawn opposition from many religious figures.
The MPs have also put forward a motion to ease the requirement for married women needing their husbands' permission to travel abroad.
The bill proposes that married women seeking to attend scientific, sports and cultural events abroad have recourse to courts to override the decision of their espouses.
Under one of the proposals, the legal age for boys and girls will increase, and children under 13 will be prohibited from being married.
The MPs will put the motion to debate after a week-long parliamentary recess, said MP Fatemeh Zolqadr, a member of parliament’s women caucus.
"One of the existing problems is that girls and boys are married at very tender ages,” said the lawmaker.
Based on one of the motions, the legal age for marriage will be set at 18 for boys and 16 for girls and getting married below 13 and 15 will be possible under certain conditions, requiring paternal consent and a court ruling, the MP said.
The legislator also blasted those families which force their children into child marriage.
"Today, a number of children between 9 and 13 are forced by their families into marriage, which result in many problems and we are trying to stop it,” she said.
Child marriages, Zolqadr said, usually lead to numerous social maladies where the victims are often deprived of education and suffer many physical and mental abuses.
Another motion proposes military service for girls in educational, health and software capacities but the proposal has drawn opposition from many religious figures.
The MPs have also put forward a motion to ease the requirement for married women needing their husbands' permission to travel abroad.
The bill proposes that married women seeking to attend scientific, sports and cultural events abroad have recourse to courts to override the decision of their espouses.