What Does the Phrase 'Lowering the Age of...' Mean?

Following the discovery of the body of Melika, an eight-year-old girl from Haftgel County in Khuzestan Province, police and other officials in the province arrested and identified a 14-year-old as the murderer of the child. Beyond the inappropriate habit of political, law enforcement, and judicial officials who introduce individuals as perpetrators before a court ruling, the age of the accused draws attention here. This incident did not occur in a war between criminal groups, so it cannot be explained by the behavior of criminal gangs. The accused in the murder of Setayesh was also a sixteen-year-old last year. Beyond specific cases, statistics also indicate a decrease in the age of crime in Iran. In recent years, the phrase 'lowering the age of...' has been frequently heard in the public space of Iran. This phrase has become so entrenched in public thought that propaganda agencies and government and semi-government websites constantly refer to it and it appears in headlines. Lowering the age of prostitution (Havzeh, February 16, 2010), lowering the age of addiction (Fars, February 11, 2011), lowering the age of dating, lowering the age of makeup (IRNA, November 8, 2015), lowering the age of committing murder (ILNA, July 11, 2017), and other crimes (Jam-e Jam, May 11, 2014), lowering the age of hookah consumption among girls and women (Iran Online, September 26, 2017), lowering the age of alcohol consumption (ISNA, October 13, 2017), and lowering the age of sexual maturity (Fars, February 27, 2014) are phrases that are constantly used by government officials and those labeled as experts. They mainly use these phrases to warn (it is unclear to whom). In this article, I will refer to three issues: the lowering of the age of makeup, addiction, and prostitution in Iran and examine the dimensions of each. I have chosen these three topics because they show that any 'lowering of age...' is not necessarily a social harm, although it may be abnormal. The management of food, drink, cosmetic, and hygiene products under the Food and Drug Administration states: 'The age of using cosmetic and hygiene products in Iran has dropped to less than 14 years.' According to him, 'Iran has surpassed Saudi Arabia [in cosmetic and hygiene product consumption] and has taken the first place in the Middle East... The annual growth of cosmetic and hygiene product consumption in Iran is about 12 percent... 80 to 90 percent of cosmetic and hygiene products are smuggled and counterfeit... Annually, more than half a billion dollars from the 2.7 billion dollar Middle Eastern market is allocated to our country.' (Fars, January 15, 2017) In Iran, it is unclear whether this official's concern is about the import and outflow of currency for these types of goods, their growth, their smuggling and counterfeiting, or the lowering of the age of consumption and the consumption of cosmetics in general. He also conflates hygiene and cosmetic products, making it unclear whether these products are essential for individuals' health or for their beauty and what percentage each has. In any case, neither the consumption of hygiene products if they are not counterfeit nor the consumption of cosmetic products is a concerning issue, and individuals have the right to procure these products for themselves and their family members. Only through Sharia orders are Muslim women prohibited from using cosmetics in public spaces, which, of course, since this issue is based on compulsion and order and applies equally to believers and non-believers, many Iranian women ignore this order. Any restrictions in this area for teenagers are the rights of families and not the rights of the state, while such warnings usually find their audience among law enforcement and paramilitary institutions. Unfortunately, Iranian experts, with a kind of statism, do not pay attention to which institutions and groups should be addressed and which should be prevented from intervening. As seen in various cases, under the influence of normative and value suspension, cultural engineering by the state and government sector, and the reduction of parental authority over children (all three are closely related), the grounds for this transformation, namely the early maturation of children and adolescents for social presence (mostly negative), have been prepared. In a society where there are about 4-6 million dropouts and millions of child laborers, it is natural that children and adolescents become involved in various social harms (early sexual maturity and makeup are not social harms and have other reasons). If we look at the cases and topics of 'lowering the age...', we clearly see that many of them are interconnected because addiction, increased crime, and prostitution have a direct relationship with each other. Naturally, if a segment is involved with one of these issues, it will also come into contact with other issues. Children and adolescents are not exempt from this. Lowering the age of addiction In Iran, neither the public sector nor the private sector has accurate statistics. In surveys, individuals also do not tell the truth; let’s assume that through various methods, errors are minimized and the government has statistics close to reality. These statistics are not announced because it is believed that they are blackening the image. The government is secretive in stating hidden problems. Also, accurate addiction statistics indicate the engineering of other statistics, meaning the extent of social harms related to addiction such as divorce, domestic violence, unemployment, child labor, and prostitution. Despite all these issues, the lowering of the age of addiction is a topic that does not contradict daily observations. But why has the age of addiction decreased? 1. The dropout rate has increased. Of about 16.5 million in the school age of 6 to 18 years in 2017, about 12.5 million go to school. Four million dropouts, mainly at the age of going to middle and high schools, are left without work in the streets. This figure does not appear in the country's unemployment statistics; of course, this figure has decreased with the declining population growth rate. Four years ago, this figure was about 6 million; 2. For students, there are very limited programs outside of school hours, and that too only in some large cities (about 2 million high school students). The educational program also cannot keep adolescents engaged in doing homework; and 3. Child laborers (about 1.5 to 3 million) are exposed to various social harms, including addiction. For years, officials of the Islamic Republic announced the number of drug addicts as 1.3 million. This figure naturally concealed the unprecedented increase in young addicts. In July 2017, suddenly, the Drug Control Headquarters decided to announce another statistic, namely 2.8 million people. (IRNA, July 24, 2017) Immediately after this, the head of the demand reduction working group of the independent committee for combating drugs in the Expediency Discernment Council said that the statistics from the Drug Control Headquarters are incorrect and should be increased by 20 to 30 percent. (IRNA, July 25, 2017) The deputy for demand reduction and development of public participation of the Drug Control Headquarters says: 'Opium with 66.8 percent, marijuana and its derivatives including hashish, grass, and weed with 11.9 percent, Afghan crack and heroin 10.6, and crystal 8.1 percent are the ways of drug consumption among 2 million 808 thousand continuous drug users in the country, and according to this statistic, opium remains the most consumed drug while the consumption of crystal has significantly decreased.' (ISNA, July 24, 2017) Lowering the age of prostitution There are no accurate statistics on the number of sex workers and their ages, but street observations and accounts from those who have visited houses providing these services indicate a lowering of the age of these workers. Observations even show that girls aged 13 to 15 are seen among sex workers. The spread of addiction among women, marriages at ages 9 to 15, a significant portion of which have led to divorce, and the failure of these girls to return to their parents' homes, along with a significant presence of girls among child laborers who are exposed to various social harms, make the lowering of the age of prostitution believable. This situation poses three serious issues for young and adolescent sex workers: 1) the greater possibility of exploitation by buyers of these services and sex traffickers and law enforcement officers (in case of arrest), 2) long-term physical and psychological harm due to the fragility of these individuals' bodies and minds, and 3) the possibility of exploitation by officials who place these individuals in specific institutions. If we look at the cases and topics of 'lowering the age...', we clearly see that many of them are interconnected because addiction, increased crime, and prostitution have a direct relationship with each other. Naturally, if a segment is involved with one of these issues, it will also come into contact with other issues. Children and adolescents are not exempt from this.