Premarital Sex, Abortion on Rise in Iran

Marriage rates dip, despite Tehran's efforts

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 29, 2008 3:02 PM CST

(Newser) – Iran’s Islamic law bans premarital sex and abortion, but an increasing number of Iranians are engaging in both, the Guardian reports. More than a quarter of men aged 19 to 29 had premarital sex, and 13% of those situations resulted in the termination of an unwanted pregnancy, a state survey found. The average age of marriage spiked to 40 for men, 35 for women.

The figures represent a setback for Tehran’s efforts to promote weddings, dialed up after the marriage rate dipped an unprecedented 1.2% in 2005. The government blamed the “unpleasant and dangerous social side effects” of premarital sex, but many Iranians cite economic hardship. One sociologist posits that working, educated women are unlikely “to accept masculine domination through marriage.”

[Images (6)]

[Quotes (1)]

An Iraqi woman rests her Quran on her head in order to free both hands to pray, at a ceremony anticipating the start of the holy month of Ramadan, at a mosque in the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, Sunday,... (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)

An Iranian woman cries during an anniversary mourning ceremony to commemorate the death of Fatima Al-Zahraa, the daughter of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday June 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

An Iranian woman walks past during a crackdown of women by Iran's police for not adhering to the strict Islamic dress code, in Tehran Monday April, 23, 2007. Iran's hard-line police has detained about... (AP Photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

Two members of the Iranian Team watch the Iran versus Syrian match during the 2nd West Asian Federation Women's Championship (WAFF) soccer match at Amman Stadium, Jordan, Monday Sept. 3, 2007. (AP Photo/Mohammad abu Ghosh)

Rising numbers of Iranians are spurning marriage and having sex illegally outside wedlock, Iran's state-run body for youth affairs has said. (Shutter Stock)

A survey by the national youth organisation found that more than one in four men aged 19 to 29 had experienced sex before marriage. (AP Photo/Farzana Wahidy)

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When a woman is educated and has an income, she does not want to accept masculine domination through marriage.
- Hojatoleslam Ghasem Ebrahimipour, sociologist

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COMMENTS

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Showing 2 of 2 comments

Guest

Jan 2, 2009 4:47 AM CST

I find this strange. Isn't this th country that looks the other way when thee community decides to stone a women to death for adultery? 2buyitnow.com

Guest

Dec 30, 2008 8:24 PM CST

It's funny to read this article and not laugh about the content :)... The iranian regime council long time ago made a law that allows on the spot 1 hour marriages for a fixed price to be paid to the woman (legalized prostitution) after the end of the hour they will break apart without the need to fill any paper. No one will ever go to a multi year marriage contract if he can pay for a pleasurely hour when ever he wants with any girl that agrees and be in accordance with Iranian laws... you can marry... 12 girls or more in one day if you can wow?????

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Premarital Sex, Abortion on Rise in Iran