In Iran, hundreds of girls under the age of 10 are married every year, and the trend is dramatically increasing: 716 girls under the age of 10 were married in 2010, a 59 percent increase in just one year (Iran's Association of Children's Rights).

Now, the Iranian parliament is considering legislation that would expand child marriage. Presently, girls below 13 can be wed with their father's consent and the permission of a court, but Mohammad Ali Isfenani, member of the Iranian Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, wants to lower the legal age of marriage to 9!

Child marriage is a gross violation of human rights. It is prohibited by international conventions. It deprives girls of their adolescence, their freedom, and their future.

Worldwide, there are another 25,000 child brides every day. That’s why, on October 11, 2012, the first International Day of the Girl, UN Secretary-General Ban KI-Moon focused his message on problem of child marriage. Consistent with that message, the Secretary-General should tell Iran to ban the practice of child marriage, rather than lowering the legal age of marriage.