Child marriage

Religion

Most religions, over history, influenced the marriageable age. For example, Christian ecclesiastical law forbade marriage of a girl before the age of puberty.^[33] Hindu vedic scriptures mandated the age of a girl's marriage to be adulthood which they defined as three years after the onset of puberty.^[34]

Jewish scholars and rabbis strongly discouraged marriages before the onset of puberty,^[26] but at the same time, in exceptional cases, girls ages 3 through 12 (the legal age of consent according to halakha) might be given in marriage by her father.^[35][36] By Judaism, the minimal girl age, for marriage, was 12 years and one day, "na'arah", as metioned in the ancient Talmud Mishnah books,(copiled between 536 BCE – 70 CE, redacted in the 3rd century CE), Order Nashim Masechet Kiddushin 41 a & b. ^[37]

According to Halakha girls should not marry until they are 12 years and six months old, "bogeret" ^{[38] [39]}. Although Moses Maimonides mentions in Talmud Mishneh Torah (compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE) that in exceptional cases, girls ages three through 12, might be given in marriage by her father,^[40][41], he also clarifies, in the same chapter, in verse 3:19 that: "Although a father has the option of consecrating his daughter to anyone he desires while she is a minor or while she is a maiden, it is not proper for him to act in this manner".^[42]

Some apocryphal accounts state that at the time of her betrothal to Joseph, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was 12–14 years old, but such accounts are unreliable.^[43]

Historically within the Catholic Church, prior to the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the minimum age for a dissoluble betrothal (sponsalia de futuro) was 7 years in the contractees. The minimum age for a valid marriage was puberty, or nominally 14 for males and 12 for females.^[44] The 1917 Code of Canon Law raised the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.^[45] The 1983 Code of Canon Law maintained the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.^{[46](c. 1083 §1)[lower-alpha 1]}

Some Islamic marriage practices have permitted marriage of girls below the age of 10, because Shariat law is based in part on the life and practices of Muhammad, the Prophet, as described in part in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Muhammad married Aisha, his third wife, when she was about age six,^[48] and consummated the marriage when she was about age nine.^[49][50] Some mainstream Islamic scholars have suggested that it is not the chronological age that matters; marriageable age under Muslim religious law is the age when the guardians of the girl feel she has reached sexual maturity. Such determination of sexual maturity is a matter of subjective judgment, and there is a strong belief among most Muslims and scholars, based on Sharia, that marrying a girl less than 13 years old is an acceptable practice for Muslims.^[51][52]

Boys

Boys are sometimes married as children, although according to UNICEF, "girls are disproportionately the most affected",^[53] child marriage is five times more common among girls than boys. Research on the effects of child marriage on underage boys is small. As of September 2014, 156 million living men were married as underage boys.^[54]

Girls

Child marriage has lasting consequences on girls, from their health, education and social development perspectives. These consequences last well beyond adolescence.^[55] One of the most common causes of death for girls aged 15 to 19 in developing countries was pregnancy and childbirth.^[56] In Niger, which is estimated as having the highest rate of child marriage in the world, about 3 in 4 girls marry before their 18th birthday.^[57][58]

Dowry and brideprice

A traditional, formal presentation of the bride price at a Thai engagement ceremony.

Providing a girl with a dowry at her marriage is an ancient practice which continues in some parts of the world. This requires parents to bestow property on the marriage of a daughter, which is often an economic challenge for many families. The difficulty to save and preserve wealth for dowry was common, particularly in times of economic hardship, or persecution, or unpredictable seizure of property and savings. These difficulties pressed families to betroth their girls, irrespective of her age, as soon as they had the resources to pay the dowry. Thus, Goitein notes that European Jews would marry their girls early, once they had collected the expected amount of dowry.^[60]

A bride price is the amount paid by the groom to the parents of a bride for them to consent to him marrying their daughter. In some countries, the younger the bride, the higher the price she may fetch.^[61][62] This practice creates an economic incentive where girls are sought and married early by her family to the highest bidder. Child marriages of girls is a way out of desperate economic conditions, or simply a source of income to the parents.^[63][64][65] Bride price is another cause of child marriage and child trafficking.^{[2][9][66][67]}

Persecution, forced migration, and slavery

Social upheavals such as wars, major military campaigns, forced religious conversion, taking natives as prisoners of war and converting them into slaves, arrest and forced migrations of people often made a suitable groom a rare commodity. Bride's families would seek out any available bachelors and marry them to their daughters, before events beyond their control moved the boy away. Persecution and displacement of Roma and Jewish people in Europe, colonial campaigns to get slaves from various ethnic groups in West Africa across the Atlantic for plantations, Islamic campaigns to get Hindu slaves from India across Afghanistan's Hindu Kush as property and for work, were some of the historical events that increased the practice of child marriage before the 19th century.^[60][68][69]

Among Sephardi Jewish communities, child marriages became frequent from the 10th to 13th centuries, especially in Muslim Spain.^[70] This practice intensified after the Jewish community was expelled from Spain, and resettled in the Ottoman Empire. Child marriages among the Eastern Sephardic Jews continued through the 18th century in Islamic majority regions.^[70][71][72]

Fear, poverty, social pressures and sense of protection

English stage actress Ellen Terry was married at age 16 to George Frederic Watts who was 46 years old, a marriage her parents thought would be advantageous; later she said she was uncomfortable being a child bride. Terry died at the age of 81, in 1928.

A sense of social insecurity has been a cause of child marriages across the world. For example, in Nepal, parents fear likely social stigma if adult daughters (past 18 years) stay at home. Other fear of crime such as rape, which not only would be traumatic but may lead to less acceptance of the girl if she becomes victim of a crime.^[73] For example, girls may not be seen as eligible for marriage if they are not virgins.^[74] In other cultures, the fear is that an unmarried girl may engage in illicit relationships,^[75] or elope causing a permanent social blemish to her siblings, or that the impoverished family may be unable to find bachelors for grown up girls in their economic social group. Such fears and social pressures have been proposed as causes that lead to child marriages. Insofar as child marriage is a social norm in practicing communities, the elimination of child marriage must come through a changing of those social norms. The mindset of the communities, and what is believed to be the proper outcome for a child bride, must be shifted to bring about a change in the prevalence of child marriage.^[76]

Extreme poverty may make daughters an economic burden on the family, which may be relieved by their early marriage,^[77] to the benefit of the family as well as the girl herself. Poor parents may have few alternatives they can afford for the girls in the family; they often view marriage as a means to ensure their daughter's financial security and to reduce the economic burden of a growing adult on the family.^[4][78] Child marriage can also be seen as means of ensuring a girl's economic security, particularly if she lacks family members to provide for her.^[79] In reviews of Jewish community history, scholars^[80][81][82] claim poverty, shortage of grooms, uncertain social and economic conditions were a cause for frequent child marriages.

Drawings by young Syrian refugee girls in a community centre in southern Lebanon promote the prevention of child marriage.

An additional factor causing child marriage is the parental belief that early marriage offers protection. Parents feel that marriage provides their daughter with a sense of protection from sexual promiscuity and safe from sexually transmitted infections.^[4][62] However, in reality, young girls tend to marry older men, placing them at an increased risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection.

Protection through marriage may play a specific role in conflict settings. Families may have their young daughters marry members of an armed group or military in hopes that she will be better protected. Girls may also be taken by armed groups and forced into marriages.^[79]

Religion, culture and civil law

Although the general marriageable age is 18 in the majority of countries, most jurisdictions allow for exceptions for underage youth with parental and/or judicial consent.^[59] Such laws are neither limited to developing countries, nor to state religion. In some countries a religious marriage by itself has legal validity, while in others it does not, as civil marriage is obligatory. For Catholics incorporated into the Latin Church, the 1983 Code of Canon Law sets the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.^{[46](c. 1083 §1)[lower-alpha 1]} In 2015, Spain raised its minimum marriageable age to 18 (16 with court concent) from the previous 14.^[83] In Mexico, marriage under 18 is allowed with parental consent, from age 14 for girls and age 16 for boys.^[84] In Ukraine, in 2012, the Family Code was amended to equalize the marriageable age for girls and boys to 18, with courts being allowed to grant permission to marry from age 16 years if it is established that the marriage is in the best interest of the youth.^[85]

Many states in the US permit child marriages, with court's permission. Since 2015, the minimum marriageable age throughout Canada is 16. In Canada the age of majority is set by province/territory at 18 or 19, so minors under this age have additional restrictions (i.e. parental and court consent). Under the Criminal Code, Art. 293.2 Marriage under age of 16 years reads: "Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is under the age of 16 years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years."^[86] The Civil Marriage Act also states: "2.2 No person who is under the age of 16 years may contract marriage."^[87] In the UK, marriage is allowed for 16–17 years old with parental consent in England and Wales as well as in Northern Ireland, and even without parental consent in Scotland.^[88] However, a marriage of a person under 16 is void under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.^[89] The United Nations Population Fund stated the following:^[59]

In 2010, 158 countries reported that 18 years was the minimum legal age for marriage for women without parental consent or approval by a pertinent authority. However, in 146 countries, state or customary law allows girls younger than 18 to marry with the consent of parents or other authorities; in 52 countries, girls under age 15 can marry with parental consent. In contrast, 18 is the legal age for marriage without consent among males in 180 countries. Additionally, in 105 countries, boys can marry with the consent of a parent or a pertinent authority, and in 23 countries, boys under age 15 can marry with parental consent.

Lower legally allowed marriage age does not necessarily cause high rates of child marriages. However, there is a correlation between restrictions placed by laws and the average age of first marriage. In the United States, per 1960 Census data, 3.5% of girls married before the age of 16, while an additional 11.9% married between 16 and 18. States with lower marriage age limits saw higher percentages of child marriages.^[30] This correlation between higher age of marriage in civil law and observed frequency of child marriages breaks down in countries with Islam as the state religion. In Islamic nations, many countries do not allow child marriage of girls under their civil code of laws. But, the state recognized Sharia religious laws and courts in all these nations have the power to override the civil code, and often do. UNICEF reports that the top five nations in the world with highest observed child marriage rates – Niger (75%), Chad (72%), Mali (71%), Bangladesh (64%), Guinea (63%) – are Islamic majority countries.^[20]

Marriageable age in religious sources

Politics and financial relationships

Child marriage in 1697 of Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, age 12 to Louis, heir apparent of France age 15. The marriage created a political alliance.

Child marriages may depend upon socio-economic status. The aristocracy in some cultures, as in the European feudal era tended to use child marriage as a method to secure political ties. Families were able to cement political and/or financial ties by having their children marry.^[95] The betrothal is considered a binding contract upon the families and the children. The breaking of a betrothal can have serious consequences both for the families and for the betrothed individuals themselves.

Africa

Poster against child and forced marriage

According to UNICEF, Africa has the highest incidence rates of child marriage, with over 70% of girls marrying under the age of eighteen in three nations.^[20] Girls in West and Central Africa have the highest risk of marrying in childhood. Niger has one of the highest rates of early marriage in sub-Saharan Africa. Among Nigerian women between the ages of twenty and twenty-four, 76% reported marrying before the age of eighteen and 28% reported marrying before the age of fifteen.^[97] This UNICEF report is based on data that is derived from a small sample survey between 1995 and 2004, and the current rate is unknown given lack of infrastructure and in some cases, regional violence.^[98]

African countries have enacted marriageable age laws to limit marriage to a minimum age of 16 to 18, depending on jurisdiction. In Ethiopia, Chad and Niger, the legal marriage age is 15, but local customs and religious courts have the power to allow marriages below 12 years of age.^[99] Child marriages of girls in West Africa and Northeast Africa are widespread.^[100] Additionally, poverty, religion, tradition, and conflict make the rate of child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa very high in some regions.^[62][101]

In many tribal systems a man pays a bride price to the girl's family in order to marry her (comparable to the customs of dowry and dower). In many parts of Africa, this payment, in cash, cattle, or other valuables, decreases as a girl gets older. Even before a girl reaches puberty, it is common for a married girl to leave her parents to be with her husband. Many marriages are related to poverty, with parents needing the bride price of a daughter to feed, clothe, educate, and house the rest of the family. In Mali, the female:male ratio of marriage before age 18 is 72:1; in Kenya, 21:1.^[62]

The various reports indicate that in many Sub-Saharan countries, there is a high incidence of marriage among girls younger than 15. Many governments have tended to overlook the particular problems resulting from child marriage, including obstetric fistulae, premature births, stillbirth, sexually transmitted diseases (including cervical cancer), and malaria.^[62]

In parts of Ethiopia and Nigeria many girls are married before the age of 15, some as young as 7.^[97] In parts of Mali 39% of girls are married before the age of 15. In Niger and Chad, over 70% of girls are married before the age of 18.^[62]

As of 2006, 15–20% of school dropouts in Nigeria were the result of child marriage.^[102] In 2013, Nigeria attempted to change Section 29, subsection 4 of its laws and thereby prohibit child marriages. Christianity and Islam are each practiced by roughly half of its population, and the country continues with personal laws from its British colonial era laws, where child marriages are forbidden for its Christians and allowed for its Muslims.^[103][104] Child marriage is a divisive topic in Nigeria and widely practiced. In northern states, predominantly Muslim, over 50% of the girls marry before the age of 15.^[105]

In 2016, during a feast ending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced that child and forced marriages were banned.^[106][107]

In 2015, Malawi passed a law banning child marriage, which raises the minimum age for marriage to 18.^[108] This major accomplishment came following years of effort by the Girls Empowerment Network campaign, which ultimately led to tribal and traditional leaders banning the cultural practice of child marriage.^[109]

In Morocco, child marriage is a common practice. Over 41,000 marriages every year involve child brides.^[110] Before 2003, child marriages did not require a court or state's approval. In 2003, Morocco passed the family law (Moudawana) that raised minimum age of marriage for girls from 14 to 18, with the exception that underage girls may marry with the permission of the government recognized official/court and girl's guardian.^[111][112] Over the 10 years preceding 2008, requests for child marriages have been predominantly approved by Morocco's Ministry for Social Development, and have increased (c. 29% of all marriages).^[110][113] Some child marriages in Morocco are a result of Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code, a law that allows rapists to avoid punishment if they marry their underage victims.^[114][115] Article 475 was amended in January 2014 after much campaigning, and rapists can legally no longer avoid sentencing by marrying their victim.^[116]

In South Africa the law provides for respecting the marriage practices of traditional marriages, whereby a person might be married as young as 12 for females and 14 for males.^[62] Early marriage is cited as "a barrier to continuing education for girls (and boys)". This includes absuma (arranged marriages set up between cousins at birth in local Islamic ethnic group), bride kidnapping and elopement decided on by the children.^[117]

In 2016, the Tanzanian High Court – in a case filed by the Msichana Initiative, a lobbying group that advocates for girls' right to education – ruled in favor of protecting girls from the harms of early marriage.^[107][118] It is now illegal for anyone younger than 18 to marry in Tanzania.^[118]

A 2015 Human Rights Watch report stated that in Zimbabwe, one-third of women aged between 20 and 49 years old had married before reaching the age of 18.^[119] In January 2016, two women who had been married as children brought a court case requesting a change in the legal age of marriage to the Constitutional Court,^[120] with the result that the court declared that 18 is to be the minimum age for a legal marriage for both men and women (previously the legal age had been 16 for women and 18 for men). The law took effect immediately, and was hailed by a number of human rights, women's rights, medical and legal groups as a landmark ruling for the country.^[121]

The UN states that although the number of child marriages has declined on a worldwide scale, the problem remains most severe in Africa, despite the fact that Ethiopia cut child marriage rates by a third.^[122]

Americas

Child marriage is common in Latin America and the Caribbean island nations. About 29% of girls are married before age 18.^[15] The child marriage incidence rates varies between the countries, with Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti and Ecuador reporting some of the highest rates in the Americas.^[11] Bolivia and Guyana have shown the sharpest decline in child marriage rates as of 2012.^[123] In Guatemala, early marriage is most common among indigenous Mayan communities. Brazil is ranked fourth in the world in terms of absolute numbers of girls married or co-habitating by age fifteen.^[124] Poverty and lack of laws mandating minimum age for marriage have been cited as reasons of child marriage in Latin America.^[125][126] In an effort to combat the widespread belief among poor, rural, and indigenous communities that child marriage is a route out of poverty, some NGOs are working with communities in Latin America to shift norms and create safe spaces for adolescent girls.^[124]

Asia

Child marriage in India. In 1900, Rana Prathap Kumari age 12 married Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV age 16. Two years later, he was recognized as the King of Mysore under British India.

More than half of all child marriages occur in the South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.^[142] There was a decrease in the rates of child marriage across South Asia from 1991 to 2007, but the decrease was observed among young adolescent girls and not girls in their late teens. Some scholars^[143] believe this age-specific reduction was linked to girls increasingly attending school until about age 15 and then getting married.

Southeast Asia

A couple after celebrating their child marriage in Indonesia, about 1939.

Hill tribes girls are often married young. For the Karen people it is possible that two couples can arrange their children's marriage before the children are born.^[164]

Indonesia

In Indonesia, there are reports of Muslim clerics taking multiple underage wives, some less than 12 years old. Indonesian prosecutors have attempted to stop this practice by demanding prison terms for such clerics; however, local courts have issued soft sentences.^[165]

A young bride at her Nikah.

In Indonesia the 1974 Law on Marriage stipulates that a woman must be at least 16 years old and a man must be at least 19 years old to marry. With the popular rise of social networking sites like Facebook underage marriage appears to be increasing in areas like Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta. Couples have reported becoming acquainted through Facebook and continuing their relationships until girls became pregnant.^[166] Among the Atjeh of Sumatra girls formerly married before puberty. The husbands, though usually older, were still unfit for sexual union.^[167] Among the islanders of Fiji, also, marriage took place before puberty.^[167]

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the public was shocked when they learned that a 41-year-old Malaysian weds a 11-year-old girl in Golok, a border town in southern Thailand. ^[168] The man, who already has two wives and six children,^[169] is said to be the imam of a surau at a village in Gua Musang, Kelantan. The matter became viral when his second wife posted photographs of the man and the young girl and their alleged solemnisation. Amid public outrage, parents of the 11-year-old girl defend decision to allow their daughter's marriage to the 41-year-old man. ^[170]

In response to this incident, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the marriage between a 41-year-old man and his 11-year-old child bride remains valid under Islam. ^[171] She also said in a press statement that 'The Malaysian government "unequivocally" opposes child marriages and is already taking steps to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18' ^[172] . The child marriage in Gua Musang is still under active investigation by multiple agencies. ^[173]

Following this controversy, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa proposed to impose a blanket ban on marriages involving under-aged children.^{[174][175][176][177]} In response, PAS Vice President Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah released a statement, saying that imposing a blanket ban on child marriage contravenes Islamic religious teachings, therefore, the blanket ban could not be accepted.^[178] "It is not wrong to marry young, from the religious perspective," he said on the sidelines of the Kelantan legislative assembly sitting. He also claimed that it is better to enforce existing laws to protect young children from being forced into unwanted early marriages.^[179]

PKR’s Latheefa Koya has taken to task the party’s president and Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail over the marriage of a 41-year-old man to a 11-year-old girl in Kelantan, saying all facts of the case were clear and established for the government to take action against child marriage.^[180]

Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail continues to attract criticism from activists over her perceived reluctance to take action against the 41-year-old man who married an 11-year-old child, with a coalition of women’s groups urging swift action to be taken to protect the girl, a Thai national who lives in Kelantan. The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) said it was time to act, urging the government to conclude its lengthy investigations.^[181]

Selangor plans to amend the Islamic Family Law (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003 on the minimum age for marriage for Muslim women in the state which will be increased from 16 to 18 years, after child marriages were reported to have become rampant of late. ^[182]

As the controversy surrounding the 41-year-old man who married an 11-year-old girl continues to simmer, another case of a child bride has been reported in Malaysia. ^[183] The marriage involves a 19-year-old from Terengganu and a 13-year-old girl from Kelantan. They tied the knot at a mosque in Kampung Pulau Nibong on June 20. Ibrahim Husin, 67, the kadi who performed the akad nikah, said he was approached by the couple, who came with two witnesses, and a wali, who was the bride’s uncle.

In September 2018, a 15-year-old girl in Tumpat, Kelantan was reportedly married to a 44-year-old man in the latest case of underage marriage to come under the spotlight. ^[184] The girl, who became the second wife of the man, told the press that she was happy to be married. The girl's parents, fully aware that she is underage, gave permission for her marriage to the man as they wanted her to have a better life, citing their hardship of raising 13 children of their own with a measly earning of RM200 - RM300 per month running a local sundry shop.^[185]

Europe

European Union

In the European Union, the general age of marriage as a right is 18 in all member states, except in Scotland where it is 16. When all exceptions are taken into account (such as judicial or parental consent), the minimum age is 16 in most countries, and in Estonia it is 15. In 3 countries marriage under 18 is completely prohibited. By contrast, in 9 countries there is no set minimum age, although all these countries require the authorization of a public authority (such as judge or social worker) for the marriage to take place.

State	Minimum age		Notes
	Minimum age when all exceptions are taken into account	General age
Austria	16	18	16 with parental consent.[220]
Belgium	none	18	Younger with judicial consent (with no strict minimum age). With parental consent, serious reasons are required for a minor to marry; without parental consent, the unwillingness of the parents has to constitute an abuse.[221]
Bulgaria	16	18	The new 2009 Family Code fixes the age at 18, but allows for an exception for 16 years olds, stating that "Upon exception, in case that important reasons impose this, matrimony may be concluded by a person at the age of 16 with permission by the regional judge". It further states that both persons wanting to marry, as well as the parents/guardians of the minor, must be consulted by the judge. (Chapter 2, Article 6)[222]
Croatia	16	18	16 with judicial consent.
Cyprus	16	18	16 with parental consent, if there are serious reasons for the marriage.[223][224]
Czech Republic	16	18	Article 672 of Act No. 89/2012 Coll. the Civil Code (which came into force in 2014) states that the court may, in exceptional cases, allow a marriage of a 16 year old, if there are serious reasons for it.[225]
Denmark	18	18	Since 2017, marriage is no longer allowed under 18.[226]
Estonia	15	18	15 with court permission.[227][228]
Finland	none	18	Under 18 with judicial authorization.[229]
France	none	18	Under 18 needs judicial authorization.[230]
Germany	18	18	The minimum age was set at 18 in 2017.[231]
Greece	none	18	Under 18 requires court permission, which may be given if there are serious reasons for such a marriage[223][232]
Hungary	16	18	16 with authorization from the guardianship authority[233]
Ireland	none	18	Under 18 with a Court Exemption Order.[234]
Italy	16	18	16 with court consent.[235]
Latvia	16	18	16 with court consent.[236]
Lithuania	none girls/15 boys	18	15 with court permission. Girls can marry below 15 with court permission if they are pregnant.[237]
Luxembourg	none	18	Under 18 need judicial permission. New laws of 2014 fixed the marriageable at 18 for both sexes; prior to these regulations the age was 16 for females and 18 for males. The new laws still allow both sexes to obtain judicial consent to get married under 18.[238]
Malta	16	18	16 with parental consent.[239]
Netherlands	18	18	Exceptions were removed by a change in the law in 2015. [240]
Poland	16 girls/18 boys	18	16 for girls with court consent.[241]
Portugal	16	18	16 with parental consent.[242]
Romania	16	18	16, if there are valid reasons, with both judicial and parental permission, as well as medical approval.[243]
Slovakia	16	18	16 with court consent, with a serious reason such as pregnancy.[244]
Slovenia	none	18	Under 18 may be approved by the Social Work Centre if there are "well founded reasons" arising upon the investigation of the situation of the minor. (Art 23, 24 of the Law on Marriage and Family Relations).[245]
Spain	16	18	16 with court consent.
Sweden	18	18	Not possible to marry under the age of 18 for Swedish citizens since July 1, 2014.[246] Authorities take a different approach to individuals who were already married when the arrive in Sweden, as during the European migrant crisis, the Swedish Migration Agency identified 132 married children, of which 65 were in Malmö.[247]
United Kingdom	16	18 (16 Scotland)	England and Wales: 16 with the consent of parents/guardians (and others in some cases) if under 18.[248] Scotland: 16[249] Northern Ireland: 16 with parental consent (with the court able to give consent in some cases).[250]

Oceania

The Marquesas Islands have been noted for their sexual culture. Many sexual activities seen as taboo in Western cultures are viewed appropriate by the native culture. One of these differences is that children are introduced and educated to sex at a very young age. Contact with Western societies has changed many of these customs, so research into their pre-Western social history has to be done by reading antique writings. Children slept in the same room as their parents and were able to witness their parents while they had sex. Intercourse simulation became real penetration as soon as boys were physically able. Adults found simulation of sex by children to be funny. As children approached 11 attitudes shifted toward girls. When a child reaches adulthood, they are educated on sexual techniques by a much older adult.

Yuri Lisyansky in his memoirs^[282] reports that:

The next day, as soon as it was light, we were surrounded by a still greater multitude of these people. There were now a hundred females at least; and they practised all the arts of lewd expression and gesture, to gain admission on board. It was with difficulty I could get my crew to obey the orders I had given on this subject. Amongst these females were some not more than ten years of age. But youth, it seems, is here no test of innocence; these infants, as I may call them, rivalled their mothers in the wantonness of their motions and the arts of allurement.

Adam Johann von Krusenstern in his book^[283] about the same expedition as Yuri's, reports that a father brought a 10- to 12-year-old girl on his ship, and she had sex with the crew. According to the book^[284] of Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu and Étienne Marchand, 8-year-old girls had sex and other unnatural acts in public.^{[285][286][287][288][289]}

Health

Child marriage threatens the health and life of girls.^[292][293] Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the main cause of death among adolescent girls below age 19 in developing countries. Girls aged 15 to 19 are twice as likely to die in childbirth as women in their 20s, and girls under the age of 15 are five to seven times more likely to die during childbirth.^[62] These consequences are due largely to girls' physical immaturity where the pelvis and birth canal are not fully developed. Teen pregnancy, particularly below age 15, increases risk of developing obstetric fistula, since their smaller pelvises make them prone to obstructed labor.^[62] Girls who give birth before the age of 15 have an 88% risk of developing fistula.^[62] Fistula leaves its victims with urine or fecal incontinence that causes lifelong complications with infection and pain.^[294] Unless surgically repaired, obstetric fistulas can cause years of permanent disability, shame to mothers, and can result in being shunned by the community.^[295][296] Married girls also have a higher risk of sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer, and malaria than non-married peers or girls who marry in their 20s.^[62]

Child marriage not only threatens the mother’s health, it also threatens the lives of offspring. Mothers under the age of 18 years have 35 to 55% increased risk of delivering pre-term or having a low birth weight baby than a mother who is 19 years old. In addition, infant mortality rates are 60% higher when the mother is under 18 years old. Infants born to child mothers tend to have weaker immune systems and face a heightened risk of malnutrition.^[295]

Prevalence of child marriage may also be associated with higher rates of population growth, more cases of children left orphaned, and the accelerated spread of disease.^[186]

Illiteracy and poverty

Child marriage often ends a girl's education, particularly in impoverished countries where child marriages are common.^[297] In addition, uneducated girls are more at risk for child marriage. Girls that have only a primary education are twice as likely to marry before age 18 than those with a secondary or higher education, and girls with no education are three times more likely to marry before age 18 than those with a secondary education.^[59] Early marriage impedes a young girl’s ability to continue with her education as most drop out of school following marriage^[298] to focus their attention on domestic duties and having or raising children.^[299] Girls may be taken out of school years before they are married due to family or community beliefs that allocating resources for girls' education is unnecessary given that her primary roles will be that of wife and mother.^[79] Without education, girls and adult women have fewer opportunities to earn an income and financially provide for themselves and their children. This makes girls more vulnerable to persistent poverty if their spouses die, abandon, or divorce them.^[55] Given that girls in child marriages are often significantly younger than their husbands, they become widowed earlier in life and may face associated economic and social challenges for a greater portion of their life than women who marry later.^[79]

Domestic violence

Married teenage girls with low levels of education suffer greater risk of social isolation and domestic violence than more educated women who marry as adults.^[62][300] Following marriage, girls frequently relocate to their husband’s home and take on the domestic role of being a wife, which often involves relocating to another village or area. This transition may result in a young girl dropping out of school, moving away from her family and friends, and a loss of the social support that she once had.^[4] A husband's family may also have higher expectations for the girl's submissiveness to her husband and his family because of her youth.^[74] This sense of isolation from a support system can have severe mental health implications including depression.

Large age gaps between the child and her spouse makes her more vulnerable to domestic violence and marital rape.^[301] Girls who marry as children face severe and life-threatening marital violence at higher rates.^[302] Husbands in child marriages are often more than ten years older than their wives. This can increase the power and control a husband has over his wife and contribute to prevalence of spousal violence.^[79] Early marriage places young girls in a vulnerable situation of being completely dependent on her husband. Domestic and sexual violence from their husbands has lifelong, devastating mental health consequences for young girls because they are at a formative stage of psychological development.^[55] These mental health consequences of spousal violence can include depression and suicidal thoughts.^[74] Child brides, particularly in situations such as vani, also face social isolation, emotional abuse and discrimination in the homes of their husbands and in-laws.

Women's rights

The United Nations, through a series of conventions has declared child marriage a violation of human rights. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination of Women (‘CEDAW’), the Committee on the Rights of the Child (‘CRC’), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights form the international standard against child marriage.^[59] Child marriages impact violates a range of women's interconnected rights such as equality on grounds of sex and age, to receive the highest attainable standard of health, to be free from slavery, access to education, freedom of movement, freedom from violence, reproductive rights, and the right to consensual marriage.^{[55][303][304]} The consequence of these violations impact woman, her children and the broader society.

Development

High rates of child marriage negatively impact countries' economic development because of early marriages' impact on girls' education and labor market participation.^[298] Some researchers and activists note that high rates of child marriage prevent significant progress toward each of the eight Millennium Development Goals and global efforts to reduce poverty due to its effects on educational attainment, economic and political participation, and health.^[298]

A UNICEF Nepal issued report noted that child marriage impacts Nepal's development due to loss of productivity, poverty, and health effects. Using Nepal Multi-Indicator Survey data, its researchers estimate that all girls delaying marriage until age 20 and after would increase cash flow among Nepali women in an amount equal to 3.87% of the country's GDP.^[204] Their estimates considered decreased education and employment among girls in child marriages in addition to low rates of education and high rates of poverty among children from child marriages.

Tipping point analysis

Researchers at the International Center for Research on Women found that in some communities rates of child marriage increase significantly when girls are a particular age. This "tipping point", or age at which rates of marriage increase dramatically, may occur years before the median age of marriage. Therefore, the researchers argue prevention programs should focus their programming on girls who are pre-tipping point age rather than only girls who are married before they reach the median age for marriage.^[314]