The head of Population and Immigrant Statistics at the Organization for Civil Registration said on Tuesday that it would stop publishing divorce rates due to its “detrimental effects on society”.
“Repeating the figures regularly will do no good and can lead to avoidable social harm. We are trying to avoid that and if any action taken to reduce the rates is effective, we will report it,” said Ali Akbar Mahzoon, ISNA reported.
He stressed that policy makers must heed the already published figures in their national plans.
The announcement has drawn criticism with MP and member of Majlis Social Commission, Zahra Saei, saying that refusing to publish important data “is dodging responsibility and evading the problem.”
“All state bodies must fulfill their task according to their job description, and publishing figures regularly on marriage and divorce is one of the important tasks of the Organization for Civil Registration,” she said, the parliament’s news agency ICANA reported.
