Women's Autonomy and Duration of Marriage to Divorce among Selected Ethnic Groups in Iran

Reduction of marriage duration is one of the social problems of modern times. In recent decades, the traditional structure of the family has changed along with the increase of women’s literacy and education, as well as their participation in labor market,. This research aims to study duration of marriage to divorce (DMD) among Kurd, Turk and Fars ethnic groups. The research method is post-event. This study explore the effect of women's autonomy on the DMD in districts with a Persian, Turkish, and Kurdish ethnic majority. The study population includes 78 districts at the 2016 Census. Data adopted from the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) and National Organization for Civil Registration (NOCR). Findings show that the relationship between ethnicity and the DMD is statistically significant. Multivariate analysis indicates that in districts with a Turkish ethnic majority, the DMD decreased by 0.189 years or 69 days per unit of increase in women's autonomy. In contrast, among Persians and Kurds, changes in the DMD is independent from women's autonomy. This may be resulted from different cultural values and norms among the studied ethnic groups. Doing qualitative researches in order to understand the meanings behind these relationships is necessary.