Iran Report
August 21, 2000

A recent study by sociology professor Manuchehr Mohseni found that 53 percent of Iranian girls would rather be boys, "Kar Va Kargar" reported on 20 August. Orumieh parliamentarian Shahrbanu Amani said on 9 August that the majority of Tehran's 25,000 street children are female teenagers, IRNA reported the next day. And the Interior Ministry is trying to control the movements of young Iranian females who reportedly travel to Arab Persian Gulf states to seek work and are misled into prostitution, "Jomhuri-yi Islami" reported on 8 August, according to DPA news agency. The women are examined upon their return to Iran, and if their "immoral activities" are proven, they are not allowed to leave the country again.

Meanwhile, the parliament approved "generalities" of a bill amending the legally permissible age of marriage, according to IRNA. Currently, nine-year old girls can marry, but under the new bill, only girls aged 14 or older and boys over 17 can marry without the court's authorization.

The efforts to increase the age of marriage caused heated debate in the parliament, but observers are undecided about the relevance of the issue