Countries: Senegal
Variables: AOM-LAW-1

“(i) Child marriage: One major gap in the Senegalese law is the failure to protect the child from marriage. According to Article 111 of the Family Code, the minimum age of marriage for a boy is 18 and 16 for a girl. However, there can be exceptions to the minimum age of marriage for serious causes, which can be determined by the President of the Court and the consent of the person exercising parental authority” (68).

Countries: Burundi
Variables: AOM-LAW-1

“(ii) Exceptions to the legal age of marriage: While Article 88 of the Code of Persons and Family provides for a man to be at least 21 years old and a woman to be 18 years old at the time of marriage, they can be allowed to marry below those years by the governor of the province, with the consent of their parents in case of serious reasons. Moreover, Article 2 of the Law on the Protection of Victims and the Prevention and Punishment of Sexual and Gender-based violence prohibits child marriage and punishes any guardian, parent or anyone who encourages a child to marry” (40).

Countries: Tanzania
Variables: AOM-LAW-1

“Finally, while Tanzania has adopted policy measures to combat child marriage, child marriage remains permitted in law. The Law of Marriage Act prescribes that the minimum age of marriage for boys is 18 years and for girls 15 years. With the court’s permission, both boys and girls can marry from the age 14,with girls also requiring parental consent. However, in 2016 the High Court held in Rebeca Z. Gyumi vs Attorney General that Sections 13 and 17 of the Law of Marriage Act were unconstitutional and directed the Government through the Attorney General to amend the law within one year from the date of the decision to set the minimum...more

Countries: South Sudan
Variables: AOM-LAW-1

”South Sudan has however adopted legislation to combat violence against women and certain harmful practices. The Penal Code prohibits rape, female genital mutilation, and forced marriage. In addition, the Child’s Act prohibits early marriage, though no specific minimum age for marriage is provided in the Act or the Constitution. The Constitution states that every person of marriageable age has the right to marry according to their respective family laws - which has serious implications on child marriage since certain community customs define the end of childhood as the attainment of puberty. However, in a widely publicised case, a court annulled the marriage of a 16-year-old girl. There is thus potential...more

Countries: Mozambique
Variables: AOM-PRACTICE-1, AOM-LAW-1

“(ii) Child marriage: Article 30 of the Family Law Act Law No. 22/2019 sets the legal age of marriage for both men and women at 18 years with no exceptions. As a general rule, only people over eighteen years of age can get married, in accordance with Article 30, paragraph 1, a) of the Family Law. Exceptionally, a man and a woman over sixteen years of age can get married when there are circumstances of recognised public and family interest and when there is the consent of the parents or legal representatives” (64).

Countries: Ethiopia
Variables: AOM-LAW-1, CUST-LAW-1

“The Revised Family Code allows Courts to make decisions on the custody of children, care of their education, health, maintenance and rights of visitation. The Court renders these decisions taking into account the income, age, health, and condition of living of the spouses as well as the age and interests of the children” (54).

Countries: D R Congo
Variables: AOM-LAW-1

"Article 333 of the Code of the Family recognises religious marriages but states that they do not have the same effect as a civil marriage under the Code of the Family. Anyone who forces someone to marry faces imprisonment and a fine under Article 336 of the Code of the Family. According to Article 352, the legal age of marriage for both men and women is 18 years, without exceptions. This is following an amendment to the Code of the Family in 2016" (47).

Countries: Cameroon
Variables: AOM-PRACTICE-1, AOM-LAW-1

“(iii) Child marriage: While Section 356 of the Penal Code criminalises forced marriage, it does not prohibit child marriage. It only provides for a minimum punishment of not less than 2 years in cases of forced marriage of children under 18, regardless of mitigating circumstances. The Civil Status Registration Ordinance of 1981114 states the minimum marriageable age as 15 for girls and 18 for boys with a clause that such marriages should involve the consent of both parties and equally recognised by an official document. However, a further waiver from these minimum age requirements can also be granted by the President for serious reasons” (43).

Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: AOM-LAW-1

"The Taliban has introduced a new family law with no minimum age for marriage, prompting warnings from rights groups that the rules risk normalising child weddings in Afghanistan" (para 1).

Countries: Iraq
Variables: AOM-LAW-1, DTCP-LAW-1

"In January, Iraq passed an amendment to its personal status law, which allows citizens to choose sect-specific religious courts to oversee their marriage affairs. This came after years of lobbying from Shia political parties to opt out of Iraq’s civil law, which has legally protected against underage marriage since the 1950s" (para 3). "The state has now introduced Ja’fari law, an 8th-century religious jurisprudence specifically for Shias, who are the religious majority in southern Iraq. A judge can permit child marriage based on perceived 'maturity and physical capacity', and while Iraqi legislation sets the minimum age for marriage to 15 years old, the widely contested Ja’fari teachings allow girls to...more

Countries: United States
Variables: AOM-LAW-1

"Brigitte Combs was 11 years old and living in Los Angeles when her mother found a prospective husband for her…Because California allows children of any age to marry, as long as at least one parent and a judge approve, this seemed plausible" (1)."Other countries have banned child marriage, including Sierra Leone last year and Colombia this year, but here in America the practice remains legal in 34 states. Even as the U.S. government advises other countries to end a cruel practice, athome we preserve what amounts to legally sanctioned statutory rape" (1). "In some states that allow child marriages, including Nevada and Florida, theminimum age is 17. In a great...more

Countries: Laos
Variables: AOM-LAW-1

"In addition, the Penal Codes is also a legal document applied as main measures to prevent child marriage, especially for girls as stated in Article 269 that “any individual gets married with under-aged (under 18 years of age) shall be imprisoned" (35). This quote clearly indicates that the legal age of marriage in Laos is 18 years of age (NAC - CODER COMMENT).

Countries: Afghanistan
Variables: AOM-PRACTICE-1, AOM-LAW-1

"...In Afghanistan, it was reported this week that a six-year-old girl had been forced to marry a 45-year-old man...before the Taliban stepped in and arrested the father and the bridegroom. Local media reported that the Taliban had said the latter needed to wait until she was nine" (para 41-42).

Countries: Iraq
Variables: AOM-LAW-1

"Earlier this year, Iraq also amended its personal status law to effectively legalise marriage for girls as young as nine. The amendments gave Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance, allowing clerics to rule according to their interpretation of Islamic law" (para 44).

Countries: India
Variables: AOM-LAW-1

"India, 'the world's largest democracy', has a similar problem. The legal age for marriage is 21 for men and 18 for women, but poverty, tradition and weak enforcement keep child marriage common" (para 48).