Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 23 / Trend T.Jafarov /
The number of marriages among children under-10 has increased in Iran. In 2010 the country registered 713 such cases which is twice more than in the previous three years, a member of the Union for the Protection of Children's Rights Farshid Yezdani said, the Iranian Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday.
Recent statistics was released in 2010, Yezdani said. According to these, some 342,000 marriage contracts were registered in Iran among adolescents under 18 years, of which 42,000 - at the age of 10-14 years.
The website of the Iranian parliament with reference to the Head of the Civil Registry in Tehran reported that in 2011, some 75 marriages among children under 10 years were recorded in Tehran province, 3929 - aged 10-14 and 1927 - aged 15-19 years.
In fact, the number of marriages among children aged 10-15 years is more than statistics shows, Yezdani said.
Some 55 per cent of child marriages are registered in cities, while 45 per cent in the villages, Yezdani added.
He said the number of divorces among children is also growing. Statistics for 2005-2011 shows that 37,000 marriages among children aged 10-18 years have ended in divorce.