“A House on the Water,” which looks at temporary marriage in Iran, is the latest study by Kameel Ahmadi, an Iranian-British sociologist who lives in Iran [Persian PDF]. Kameel has published extensive research on sexual inequality and marriage in Iran, including a study of early child marriage entitled “An Echo of Silence” [PDF]. His latest research also pays special attention to the pathology of temporary marriage between legally underage children — a subject that has become more controversial in recent years.
In 2014, Iranian parliament’s Research Center published its own report about temporary marriage, describing it as a cure for “reducing illicit sexual relations” in Iran [Persian link]. The report warned about the “spread of homosexuality” among high school students because, it said, their chances of a permanent marriage are very low. “Now that permanent marriage has become difficult,” the report said, “if we cannot find a proper solution, then sexual needs will force individuals to find other ways —including self-gratification, homosexuality, illicit sexual relations, adultery or sexual aggression. And it is not often that individuals choose to control their sexual impulses by fasting, exercise, taking medication or surgery. Temporary marriage is the way out of all these negative consequences.”
