Introduction

Early Childhood Marriage (ECM), is known as violence against children. The purpose of this study was to find out the factors associated with ECM from local peoples’ perspectives in North Khorasan province, Iran.

Methods

Using an inductive approach to qualitative content analysis and saturation principles, 179 participants (key-persons, key-informants, unmarried girls, and mothers) were recruited in Maneh and Samalqan rural areas of North Khorasan. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using constant comparison in open, axial, and selective coding stages.

Results

“Social stigma of being unmarried”, “fear of losing the ideal marriage opportunity or stay single”, “early marriage: the desire of the girl child”, “parents' concern about girls' high-risk sexual relationships: the value of virginity”, “men and their families”, “preference for girls under the age of 15”, “parents' unawareness about the consequences of ECM”, “fatalistic approach”, “disappointment with continuing education”, “legislation”, “religious beliefs”, “the financial capability of families”, “the monotony of social life for rural women”, and “forced marriage” were main categories that explained the reasons of ECM.

Conclusion

The results of this study could be a guide for policymakers and activists in the field of child protection and women empowerment to prevent and reduce the prevalence of ECM. Participatory intervention programs that involve girls to increase the girls' and their parents’ awareness about the consequences of ECM could be helpful. ECM is associated with customs and local community members’ attitudes about early marriage. If community members are involved in finding appropriate strategies to prevent ECM, they will initiate solutions that are more applicable to their local community.

中文翻译：

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利益相关者对伊朗Maneh和Samalqan女童早婚的看法

介绍

幼儿婚姻（ECM），被称为对儿童的暴力行为。这项研究的目的是从伊朗北部霍拉桑省的当地人的角度找出与ECM相关的因素。

方法

使用归纳法进行定性内容分析和饱和度原则，在北霍拉桑省的Maneh和Samalqan农村地区招募了179名参与者（关键人物，关键信息人，未婚女孩和母亲）。半结构化访谈和焦点小组讨论用于数据收集。在开放，轴向和选择性编码阶段使用恒定比较分析数据。

结果

“未婚的社会耻辱”，“害怕失去理想的婚姻机会或保持单身”，“早婚：女童的愿望”，“父母对女孩的高风险性关系的关注：童贞的价值” ”，“男人和他们的家庭”，“偏爱15岁以下的女孩”，“父母不了解ECM的后果”，“极端主义”，“对继续教育的失望”，“立法”，“宗教信仰” ”，“家庭的经济能力”，“农村妇女的社会生活单调”和“强迫婚姻”是解释ECM原因的主要类别。

结论

这项研究的结果可以为保护儿童和增强妇女权能领域的政策制定者和活动家提供指导，以预防和减少ECM的流行。涉及女孩的参与性干预计划可以提高女孩及其父母对ECM后果的认识，这可能会有所帮助。ECM与习俗和当地社区成员对早婚的态度有关。如果社区成员参与寻找预防ECM的适当策略，他们将启动更适合其当地社区的解决方案。