Out of the Shadows - Child Marriage and Slavery

This report, prepared by Anti-Slavery International, sheds light on the striking links between slavery and slavery-like practices and many child marriages. As such, it complements the author’s endeavors to highlight the existence of servile marriages, which are specifically prohibited in the United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. This paper deploys a wealth of material already available on the subject of child marriage to present how many of these real-life incidences in fact amount to slavery and slavery-like practices under international law, based on a thorough analysis of the most relevant UN and ILO standards. It then details the extent to which key international bodies make the link between child marriage and child slavery. The review also examines a number of obstacles at the national level that impede the realization of rights to marry with free and full consent, and the enjoyment by both partners of equal rights during and at the dissolution of marriage. It is high time for the servile marriage of children and adults to come out of the shadows. It must be tackled in a comprehensive way, acknowledging all of its many and varied manifestations, and encompassing its complex range of causes and consequences. By identifying where child marriage amounts to slavery and slavery-like practices, this review and its recommendations will hopefully not only draw attention to the urgent need for action, but also provide a useful framework for the international community and its member States to help put an end to the gravest forms of child marriage by firstly recognizing them as slavery-like practices and punishing them as such.