England, Wales raise minimum age of marriage to 18
England and Wales have raised the minimum age of marriage and civil partnerships to 18.
What you need to know:
- Conservative MP Pauline Latham, who spearheaded the amendment, argued that the UK had been undermining its international law efforts to end child marriage.
- The new law will not apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the minimum age of marriage remains at 16 years.
England and Wales have raised the minimum age of marriage and civil partnerships to 18, effective from Monday.
Before the amendment to the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Minimum Age) Act, 16- and 17-year-olds could get married with parental consent.
Conservative Member of Parliament Pauline Latham, who spearheaded the amendment through a private member's bill, argued that the United Kingdom (UK) was previously undermining its international law efforts to end child marriage.
Passing the law has, however, not been easy for children's rights movements who have had to campaign for its passing for five years. According to a previous interview conducted by The Guardian, Ms Latham stated that official figures showed 43 boys and 140 girls aged between 16 and 17 got married with parental consent in 2017.
She also told the Guardian that "banning marriage with parental consent would protect young people from being coerced into early marriage, after being groomed or because they lack the will or capacity to report a forced marriage."
Coercion
Before the enactment of the law, forced marriage was only an offence in England and Wales if a person used coercion, such as threats, to get someone to marry. However, this new law will recognise children married under the age of 18 as victims of forced marriage and such an offence will attract a sentence of up to seven years in prison.
Also speaking to The Guardian, Natasha Rattu, the director of Karma Nirvana, an organisation that protects girls as young as 11 years old from child marriage, hailed the new law as a significant milestone towards child protection and ending forced marriages amongst young girls.
"It is a huge leap forward to tackling this usually hidden abuse. Last year, the national honour-based abuse helpline supported 64 cases of child marriage, representing only a small picture of a much bigger problem," Ms Rattu added.
Unfortunately, the new law will not apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the minimum age of marriage remains at 16 years. In Northern Ireland, parental consent is required for those under 18, but those in Scotland do not require parental consent.
Nonetheless, the new law is a win for England and Wales and is in line with the United Nations push for every country to end child marriage by 2030.The new law will also prevent girls from leaving education early and suffering domestic violence that is usually associated with early marriages.
