News

Social attitudes in Iran have changed greatly since the 1979 revolution, but the taboo on premarital sex remains, at least in the public sphere. 

Although the government tries to enforce draconian Islamic laws to curb relationships between the sexes, many younger people nevertheless go their own way- much to the consternation of senior Shia clerics.

An opinion survey conducted by Iran’s National Youth Organisation last year showed that 55 per cent of the 7,000 young men and women polled had had extramarital sex. Independent experts believe the real percentage may be even higher.

Premarital sex, especially among young men, is no longer seen as quite out of bounds as was once the case. Yet for a woman planning to marry, the tradition that she must be a virgin is still upheld.

There is no law requiring proof of virginity as a condition of marriage, but custom and practice have an enduring force in Iranian society.