What Socio-Cultural Factors Encourage Child Marriage in Sanandaj, Iran? A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Our aim in the present study was to explore the cultural and social factors for child marriage in Sanandaj, Iran. In this qualitative study, semi-structured individual interviews were employed to collect data from the women married under the age of 18, their parents, and key informants. Thematic analysis was used to generate new insights and concepts from the data, collected from 40 participants. The socio-cultural factors perpetuating child marriage, reported by participants, were; “neutralization of girls,” “child marriage-inducing customs and beliefs,” “determinant power of males,” “technology and facilitators of child marriage.” Families' efforts to marry their children, the acceptance of child marriage by law and norms, encouragement of social networks, neighborhoods, relatives, and peers all have a mutual and reinforcing interdependence, which facilitates child marriage in the community. So, the interaction of all these features should be taken into account while delving into child marriage phenomenon. Socio-cultural elements should be emphasized in all interventional efforts and micro- and macro-level health promotion policy-makings aiming at reducing the rate of child marriage.

Keywords:

• Child marriage
• qualitative study
• socio-cultural factors

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all those who participated in this study as well as the staff of Sanandaj health centers. This is a report of database from PhD thesis registered at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences with the Number (IR.TBZMED.REC.1398.893).

Ethical approval

This research was approved by the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Ethical considerations. Informed consent was obtained from all the people who participated in the study. All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the national ethical standards and the Ethics Committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bahman Baraie

Bahman Baraie (Ph.D. candidate in Health Education and Promotion) is currently employed as a health educator.

Mehdi Rezaei

Dr. Mehdi Rezaei is an Associate Professor in the Demography at Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran.

Haidar Nadrian

Dr. Haidar Nadrian is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

Hossein Matlabi

Dr. Hossein Matlabi completed his Ph.D. in 2010 (Sheffield Institute for Studies on Ageing) and is currently employed as Associate Professor of Geriatric Health; Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. His research and publication work pertains to aspects of quality of life, elder abuse, the features of age-friendly communities, and the social aspects of the older adults.