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

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]