Child, early, and forced marriages are still widespread. In 2017, the United Nations Children’s Fund estimated that there were 726,000 child brides around the world. At the root of the problem, many brides are victims of commercial sex and sex trafficking, especially in poor countries. The mail-order-bride industry is still very much real and present.

Many international conventions and agreements, like the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, have tried to address this issue by legally specifying a minimum age for marriage.

The aim is that spouses, at least 18 years old, enter marriage only with free and full consent of intention. Otherwise, facilitation and solemnization should be considered public crimes. Forcing a child into marriage and sexual relations falls under child abuse and exploitation, and endangering the development of children. It causes hundreds of billions of dollars in losses, as World Bank research stated. Culturally sensitive comprehensive care and welfare programs should be coordinated globally.

Definitions to clarify these areas:

  • Children — persons less than 18 years old, or those unable to fully take care of themselves or protect themselves from abuse, exploitation or discrimination because of a physical or mental disability
  • Child abuse — an act by deeds or words which debases, degrades or demeans the intrinsic worth and dignity of a child as a human being; or any circumstance which gravely threatens or endangers the life, survival, safety and normal development of children.
  • Child marriage —a union wherein one or both parties are younger than 18 years of age, or unable to fully take care or protect themselves because of a physical or mental disability or condition, solemnized in a civil, church or in any recognized traditional, cultural or customary manner.
  • Solemnizing Officer — any person authorized by law or recognized by reason of religion, tradition, culture or customs, to unite two people in marriage.
  • Parents and Guardians—refer to biological parents or legally adoptive parents. Guardians refers to relatives taking custody of the child or minor in the absence of the parents; or anyone to whom a child or minor was given to or left in the care or custody of.
  • Facilitation of child marriage—the person who caused, fixed, facilitated or arranged the child marriage shall be considered to have committed abuse of the child.
  • Solemnization of child marriage—the person who officiated and performed the formal rites of child marriage shall be considered to have committed abuse of the child.

 

Countries this relates to
Projects and thematic pages

Childhub

You might like..

0
225
Within the project "Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia", funded by UNHCR, Praxis prepared the report, “Child, Early and Forced Marriages in Serbia – regulations, response and prevention”. The report presents the…
0
30
Non-Governmental Organizaion Praxis presented the report “Prevention and Elimination of Child Marriages and Economic Empowerment of Roma Women at the Local Level in Serbia -analysis” at the final conference held on 19 April 2023 in Belgrade. The…
0
3
Pursuant to resolution 51/3 of the Commission on the Status of Women, the present report gives an overview of the consideration of the issue of forced marriage at the international level, and the evolving approach for addressing it. It provides…
0
28
The UN Estimates that twelve million girls are married each year before they reach the age of 18. The UN set 2030 as a target to end child marriage, but the progress is slow and has been disrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic in…
0
11
Forced migration does more than move people geographically; it changes how people function socially, and adapts the processes that hold people together. Through this conference, migration theorists, anthropologists, human geographers, development…
0
123
The ILO and Walk Free Foundation, in collaboration with IOM, have jointly published a report finding that over 40 million people were victims of modern slavery in 2016, of which an estimated 152 million (1 in 4) are children. Released…
0
22
A new page on the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action about the Task Force on Community Based Child Protection 1. Purpose of the Community Based Child Protection Task Force To strengthen the evidence base for CBCP programming,…
yes
0
9
There is an African proverb which says: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together’. In this spirit, Terre des Hommes has teamed up with five other leading child-focused agencies to call on the global community to protect…
0
81
The International Labour Organisation is dedicating the year 2021 to the elimination of child labour, as still today 152 million children around the world are affected by it. "Child labour is defined by international standards as work that is…
0
4
On November 24, 2020, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen their collaboration on vaccination efforts and related health services for migrants and…
yes
0
12
Regional conference on the prevention and elimination of violence against children to gather international experts in Sofia The event will take place on June 27-28 Violence against children exists in every nation, community, ethnic or religious…
0
18
Many migrant children have been raised in societies where living conditions and paediatric healthcare differ from those of industrialized countries. As a result, migrant children have important healthcare needs. Researchers claim that the burden of…
0
27
Van, TURKEY - “A lot of girls who get married at an early age don’t go to school and they don’t receive enough information about their health,” said Helin İnce, a young woman, from the village of Karlıyamaç in Van, eastern Turkey. Four months ago,…
0
64
The article below was written by Helen Bonnick, a social worker and educator who specialises in child to parent violence and abuse. Her website, Holes in the Wall, brings together information, research and resources about this form of abuse for…
yes
0
4
Dear colleagues, We are pleased to present to you 2018's main achievements in the Child Protection Sector via an interactive infographic. We would like to thank everyone who contributed in one way or another. Feel free to go through…