General Assembly: United Nations
General Assembly: United Nations
General Assembly: United Nations
Original: English
Summary
Taking into consideration information received from States, United
Nations agencies, civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders, the
report discusses the international norms and standards applicable to child,
early and forced marriage and the human rights impact of the practice on
women and girls. The report addresses the various factors that contribute to
child, early and forced marriage and further analyses existing measures and
strategies to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage with a
particular focus on challenges, achievements, best practices and
implementation gaps.
GE.14-12876
A/HRC/26/22
Contents
Paragraphs Page
I. Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1-3 3
II. Definitions ............................................................................................................. 4–6 3
III. International legal framework ........................................................................ 7–16 4
A. Right to enter into marriage with free and full consent .................. 7–8 4
B. Child marriage ............................................................................................. 9–15 4
C. Right to equality and non-discrimination ............................................ 16 7
IV. Factors contributing to child, early and forced marriage........................ 17–20 7
V. Human rights impact of child, early and forced marriage ...................... 21–24 8
VI. Measures and strategies to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage
25–40 9
A. Legislative measures.................................................................................. 25–27 9
B. Policies, action plans and coordination mechanisms ....................... 28 11
C. Engagement of religious and traditional leaders and service providers 29–30
11
D. Education and empowerment of girls and women ........................... 31–34 11
E. Awareness-raising ...................................................................................... 35–36 12
F. Protection measures .................................................................................. 37–40 13
VII. Challenges and implementation gaps............................................................ 41–51 14
VIII. Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................... 52–54 17
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I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council
resolution 24/23, in which the Council requested the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to prepare a report, in
consultation with States, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes,
civil society and other relevant stakeholders, on preventing and eliminating
child, early and forced marriage, with a particular focus on challenges,
achievements, best practices and implementation gaps.
2. For the preparation of the report, OHCHR solicited inputs from
Member States, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, special
procedures mandate-holders, treaty bodies, civil society organizations and
other relevant stakeholders. As at 17 March 2014, 110 replies had been
received, including 31 from Member States. All the submissions are available
on the OHCHR website.1 OHCHR also reviewed recent studies and research
on the issue.
3. Information received for the present report reveals a wide variation in
the prevalence of child, early and forced marriage between and within
countries.2 It is a practice which adversely impacts on the rights of girls, boys,
men and women. However, child, early and forced marriage has a
disproportionately negative impact on women and girls. According to United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates, in 2012, approximately 400
million women aged 20–49 around the world (or 41 per cent of the total
population of women in that age group) had been married or entered into a
union before they reached 18 years of age.3 The United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA) reported that the rate of marriage for girls before the age of
18 in developing countries (not including China) is one in three, the majority
of whom have limited education and live in rural areas and in extreme
poverty.4
II. Definitions
4. For the purpose of this report, “child marriage” is a marriage in which
at least one of the parties is a child. According to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, a child is “every human being below the age of eighteen
years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained
earlier”.5 The Committee on the Rights of the Child has called on States
parties to review the age of majority if it is set below 18.
1
www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WRGS/Pages/WRGSIndex.aspx.
2
For more information on regions of prevalence and disparities, refer to the UNFPA
and UNICEF submissions.
3
UNICEF, “Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed, Progress Report”
(September 2012).
4
UNFPA, State of World Population 2013 report, Motherhood in Childhood: Facing the
challenge of adolescent pregnancy (New York, 2013).
5
Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 1.
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6
Rangita de Silva de Alwis, “Child marriage and the law”, Legislative Reform Initiative
Paper Series (UNICEF, New York, January 2008), p. 37.
7
General Assembly resolution 1763 A (XVII).
8
Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa (2003), art. 6 (a); South African Development Community (SADC)
Protocol on Gender and Development (2008), art. 8, para. 2 (b); Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Human Rights Declaration (2012), art. 19; American
Convention on Human Rights (1969), art. 17 (3).
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B. Child marriage
9
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, art. 1.
10
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999), art. 2.
11
See in particular article 2 on non-discrimination, article 3 on the best interests of the
child, article 12 on the right of the child to be heard in accordance with her/his age
and maturity, article 19 on essential measures to be taken to protect the child from all
forms of violence, article 34 on protecting children from all forms of sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse, article 35 on measures to prevent the abduction of,
sale of or traffic in children and article 36 on protecting the child against all other
forms of exploitation which may cause harm to the child.
12
See, for example, the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women on Montenegro (CEDAW/C/MNE/CO/1), Mauritania
(CRC/C/MRT/CO/2), Togo (CRC/C/TGO/CO/3-4), Zambia (CEDAW/C/ZMB/CO/5-6) and the
concluding observations of the Committee against Torture on Bulgaria
(CAT/C/BGR/CO/4-5).
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13
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child
pornography (A/66/228), p. 8. See also the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition
of Slavery, art. 1 (c) (i)-(iii) and (d). This was also highlighted by the Pan-African
Forum against the Sexual Exploitation of Children: see UNICEF, Early Marriage – A
harmful traditional practice: A statistical exploration (New York, 2005).
14
See thematic report on servile marriage (A/HRC/21/41); see also the report on the
mission to Madagascar of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery,
including its causes and consequences (A/HRC/24/43/Add.2), especially para. 125 and
the thematic report on challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of
slavery (A/HRC/24/43).
15
ECPAT International submission.
16
See also African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999), art. 21, para. 2,
and Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1468 (2005), para. 14.2.1.
17
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general
recommendation No. 21 (1994) on equality in marriage and family relations, para. 36.
18
See the concluding observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, on Mexico (E/C.12/MEX/CO/4); the concluding observations of the Committee
on the Rights of the Child on Georgia (CRC/C/15/Add.124), South Africa
(CRC/C/15/Add.122) and Costa Rica (CRC/C/CRI/CO/4).
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19
The four mandate holders were: the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms
of slavery, its causes and consequences, the Special Rapporteur on violence against
women and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women
and children.
20
Human Rights Committee general comment No. 19 (1990) on protection of the family,
the right to marriage and equality of the spouses, para. 4. See also general comment
No. 28 (2000) on equality of rights between men and women, para. 23.
21
Concluding observations of the Human Rights Council on Uruguay
(CCPR/C/URY/CO/5), Kuwait (CCPR/C/KWT/CO/2), Yemen (CCPR/CO/75/YEM), United
Republic of Tanzania (CCPR/C/TZA/CO/4/Add.1), Islamic Republic of Iran
(CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3).
22
See the concluding observations of the Committee against Torture on Bulgaria
(CAT/C/BGR/CO/4‑5) and on Yemen (CAT/C/YEM/CO/2/Rev.1).
23
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999), art. 21 (2); Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1468 (2005), para. 14.2.1; SADC Protocol
on Gender and Development, art. 8 (2) (a).
24
See concluding observations of the Committees against Torture, on the Rights of the
Child and on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, including on Yemen
(CAT/C/YEM/CO/2/Rev.1), Afghanistan (CRC/C/AFG/CO/1) and Peru (A/57/38(SUPP)). See
also recommendations made in the context of the universal periodic review, and
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) resolution 51/3, para. 1 (b).
25
Save the Children submission, p. 6.
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16. As discussed below, child, early and forced marriage is now widely
recognized as a form of gender-based discrimination which
disproportionately affects women and girls. The rights to equality and
non-discrimination are set forth in a number of international human rights
instruments.26 The Committees on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women and on the Rights of the Child have both described forced and child
marriage as a manifestation of discrimination against women and girls, a
violation of their rights and an obstacle to the girl child’s full enjoyment of
her rights. They have further highlighted that the practice is perpetuated by
entrenched adverse customs and traditional attitudes that discriminate
against women or place women in subordinate roles to men, or by women’s
stereotyped roles in society.27
26
See the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 7, the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, art. 2, paras. 1 and 3, and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, arts. 2, paras. 2 and 3. Article 16 of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women places
an obligation on States to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations. See also
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general
recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health.
27
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general
recommendation No. 19 (1992) on violence against women, para. 11. See also the
following concluding observations of human rights treaty bodies: Comoros
(CRC/C/15/ADD.141); Costa Rica (CCPR/CO/75/YEM); Denmark
(CRC/C/15/ADD.141);Ethiopia (CRC/C/15/ADD.144); Guyana (CRC/C/15/ADD.130); Malawi
(CRC/C/15/ADD.174); Seychelles (CRC/C/SYC/CO/2-4); Algeria (CEDAW/C/DZA/CO/3-4);
Bulgaria (CAT/C/BGR/CO/4-5); Iran (CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3); Mauritania (CAT/C/MRT/CO/1.
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28
UNICEF, Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed, Progress Report
(September 2012).
29
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, general
recommendation No. 21.
30
See www.plan-uk.org/early-and-forced-marriage/.
31
UNICEF submission, p. 7.
32
Plan International submission 2, para. 10.
33
UNICEF submission, p. 7.
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orientation.34
20. The risk of child, early and forced marriage is also exacerbated for girls
in conflict and humanitarian crisis situations, where the increased risks of
poverty from financial instability and sexual violence leave girls even more
vulnerable to this practice.35 For instance, reports of the independent
international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic noted an
increase in child, early and forced marriage, as families felt their daughters
would be safer if married.36
34
Submission from Protect and Save the Children Association of Selangor and Kuala
Lumpur, “Child marriage – situation in Malaysia” (2013), p. 1; report of the Special
Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
(A/HRC/25/48), para. 26; and Plan International submission, p. 10.
35
See, for example, J . Schlecht, E. Rowley, J. Babirye, “Early relationships and marriage
in conflict and post-conflict settings: vulnerability of youth in Uganda”, Reproductive
Health Matters, Vol. 21, No. 41 (May 2013), pp. 234–42; Human Rights Watch, “How
come you allow little girls to get married?” (2011); Report of the Secretary-General on
forced marriage of the girl child (E/CN.6/2008/4), pp. 4–5.
36
A/HRC/23/58, para. 35, and A/HRC/24/46, para. 36.
37
For more information on the health consequences of child marriage, in particular the
impact on access to sexual and reproductive health rights, see submissions from
UNICEF, UNFPA and the Sexual Rights Initiative and Center for Reproductive Rights.
See also UNFPA, Motherhood in childhood: Facing the challenge of adolescent
pregnancy (see note 4), overview and pp. 11 and 23; and A/HRC/18/27.
38
Anti-Slavery International, “Out of the shadows: child marriage and slavery” (April
2013).
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39
Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and
Plan International “Protecting children from harmful practices in plural legal
systems” (2012). See also Plan International, “A girl’s right to say no to marriage:
working to end child marriage and keep girls in school” (2013).
40
OHCHR, Practices in adopting a human rights-based approach to eliminate
preventable maternal mortality and human rights (A/HRC/18/27 and Corr.1 and 2),
para. 11.
41
Ibid.
42
Commission of the Status for Women resolution 51/3. See also the Programme of
Action of the United Nations International Conference on Population and
Development, paras. 4.21 and 7.41, the Beijing Platform for Action, para. 93, and the
Joint Statement issued by a group of United Nations human rights experts to mark the
first International Day of the Girl Child, 2012. Additional information on the social
and economic consequences can be found in the Plan International submission.
43
Plan Kenya, 2012, “Because I am a Girl: Country Report”, p. 8.
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A. Legislative measures
44
Several countries have seen a rise in the number of birth registrations following the
enactment of legislation. For more on civil registration (including birth registration)
and vital statistics, see Plan International submission.
45
Submission from the Syrian Arab Republic.
46
Recommendations can be found at www.ohchr.org either in the treaty bodies
database or on the Committees’ own websites.
47
Submission from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The
protection orders have proved useful in cases where the child is in imminent danger
of being removed from the jurisdiction for the purpose of marriage. An emergency
protection order normally lasts eight days with a possible extension of seven days,
which buys the authorities time to apply for more long-term protection, e.g., a care
order. See also submission from Ruth Gaffney-Rhys, University of South Wales.
48
Submissions from Switzerland and the Netherlands.
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27. Many countries have also enacted laws which impose a criminal
penalty for forcing someone to marry or for performing marriages of persons
below the age of 18. For example, in February 2013, the Australian
Parliament adopted the Slavery Act, which recognizes “forced marriage as a
serious form of exploitation and a crime, akin to a slavery-like practice”.49
Under this Act, forced marriage offences carry a maximum penalty of four
years’ imprisonment, or seven years’ imprisonment for an aggravated
offence. An offence may be aggravated in several circumstances, including
where the victim is under the age of 18. The offence of forced marriage
applies to any person with a role in bringing about the forced marriage,
including families, friends, wedding planners or marriage celebrants.
Azerbaijan has also amended its criminal code to include forced marriage as
a criminal offence. In the United Kingdom, a parliamentary process is under
way to introduce a specific criminal offence of forcing someone to marry.50
49
Submission from Australia, p. 3.
50
Submission from the United Kingdom.
51
See
ethiopia.unfpa.org/2013/10/24/8249/ethiopia_launches_alliance_to_end_child_marriag
e/.
52
UNICEF submission.
53
Oslo Red Cross submission.
54
Submission from Canada.
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31. A common theme in the submissions received was the critical need to
ensure the empowerment of women and girls through, inter alia, education
and access to resources as the best preventive measures against child
marriage and for the full realization of the human rights of women and girls.
32. Initiatives mentioned include direct financial support to families and
guardians to encourage girls to continue their education;58 efforts to increase
the enrolment and retention rate of girls in school, such as lower cut-off
re-entry points and scholarships for girls; and programmes that provide
non-formal education and vocational training, development of livelihood
skills and life skills education.59 Several countries also indicated that they
were supporting girls’ empowerment through programmes that target girls at
risk of child marriage and those that are married.
33. Examples of the above-mentioned initiatives include the following: in
Egypt, the Ishraq programme, which prepares out-of-school girls, including
those forced to drop out of school upon marriage or motherhood, for re-entry
55
Submissions from GNB USA and GNB Zambia..
56
Secretariat submission, p. 16.
57
ethiopia.unfpa.org/2013/10/24/8249/ethiopia_launches_alliance_to_end_child_m
arriage/. See also submissions from UNICEF, Oslo Red Cross, Canada and Girls
Empowerment Network Malawi.
58
UNICEF submission.
59
Submissions from the Red Elephant Foundation, p. 15 and Organisation of African
Youth – Cameroon.
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E. Awareness-raising
60
GNP USA submission, p. 7.
61
Commonwealth Secretariat submission, p. 14.
62
ECPAT International submission, p. 16. Detailed examples of educational programmes
of civil society organizations can be found in the ECPAT International submission.
63
Submission from Germany, p. 2.
64
ECPAT International submission, p. 21.
65
South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario submission.
66
UNICEF submission, p. 6.
67
UNICEF submission.
68
Submissions from Australia, Switzerland, France and Uzbekistan.
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F. Protection measures
69
Association of Salangor and Kuala Lumpur submission, p. 2.
70
See for example, World Vision “Untying the knot: exploring early marriage in fragile
States” (March, 2013), available from:
www.worldvision.org/resources.nsf/main/press-reports/$file/Untying-the-
Knot_report.pdf; J. Schlecht, E. Rowley, J. Babirye, “Early relationships and marriage
in conflict and post-conflict settings: vulnerability of youth in Uganda” (note 35).
According to UNFPA, “These girls are called ‘famine brides’ in food-insecure Kenya.
Young girls were married to ‘tsunami widowers’ in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and India as
a way to obtain State subsidies for marrying and starting a family. During the
conflicts in Liberia, Uganda and Sudan, girls were abducted and given as ‘bush wives’
to warlords, or even given by their families in exchange for protection”, UNFPA,
Marrying Too Young: End Child Marriage (New York, 2012), p. 12.
71
Submission from Australia, p. 3.
72
Southall Black Sisters submission, p. 3.
73
Submission from Switzerland, Rapport du Conseil fédéral à l’intention de l’Assemblée
fédérale donnant suite à la motion 09.4229.
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are remarried.75
39. Measures taken to protect vulnerable witnesses and victims can be
instrumental in promoting the prosecution of cases of child, early and forced
marriage. Australia, for example, highlighted the fact that, in June 2013, its
Parliament passed the Vulnerable Witness Act, which allows vulnerable
witnesses to give evidence in criminal proceedings by closed-circuit
television, video link or video recording, limit their contact with the
defendant or members of the public and have a support person with them
while giving evidence.76
40. Several States are implementing training programmes for relevant
public officials, including law enforcement and local administration officers.
For instance, the Government of Switzerland has allocated funding for its
newly established “Control Networks on forced marriages”. The networks
offer coaching and counselling for victims of child, early and forced marriage
and training for professionals providing access to support services.77 In
Canada, there are plans for online training on forced marriage and
“honour”-based violence developed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to
be made available to municipal police and other agencies.78 In Australia, a
module about forced marriage issues is now part of the compulsory ongoing
professional development training provided to civil celebrants.79 The
Government of Oman, in partnership with UNICEF, is preparing a training
programme for teachers, law enforcement workers and those working in
other relevant fields on protection of the family which will include child
marriages.80 The Government of the United Kingdom has issued guidelines on
forced marriage with the intention of improving practices among frontline
workers, including the police and social services.81
75
Save the Children submission, p. 4.
76
Submission from Australia, p. 2.
77
Submission from Switzerland.
78
Submission from Canada. For more examples of awareness-raising, see Plan UK, 2013,
“Girls’ access to and Completion of Lower Secondary Education in Malawi: PPA
Building Skills for Life for Adolescent Girls Programme Mid-term Evaluation Report”.
79
Submission from Australia, p. 4.
80
Submissions from Australia, the Netherlands and Oman. For information on child
marriage among indigenous communities, see “Breaking the silence on violence
against indigenous girls, adolescents and young women” (ILO, UN Women, UNFPA,
UNICEF, 2013).
80
Submission from Oman.
81
Submission from the United Kingdom. See also submission from Ruth Gaffney-Rhys,
University of South Wales.
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82
See Center for Reproductive Rights submission, p. 2; see also Guttmacher Institute and
International Planned Parenthood Federation, 2013, cited in UNFPA, Background
paper for the State of the World Population, 2013, available from
www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/swp2013/Background%20paper%20on%20
human%20rights%20by%20Christina%20Zampas.pdf
83
Musawah submission, p. 3.
84
See, for examples, submissions from Studies and Research Center on Women issues in
Islam; Justice for Iran, and Save the Children.
85
See the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women on Israel (CEDAW/C/ISR/CO/5) and the State party
report of Kenya for that Committee (CEDAW/C/KEN/7); and State party report of
Trinidad and Tobago for the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/83/Add.12).
86
See, for example, the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the
Child on El Salvador (CRC/C/SLV/Q/3-4/Add.1), Eritrea (CRC/C/ERI/3) and Guatemala
(CRC/C/GTM/3-4).
87
Equality Now, “Protecting the girl child: using the law to help end child, early and
forced marriage and related human rights violations”, available from:
www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/Protecting_the_Girl_Child_Annex_v3.pdf.
88
Ibid.
89
Submission from Egypt.
90
Section 29 (4) of the Nigerian Constitution states that a woman is deemed to be of full
age upon marriage; see also Committee on the Rights of the Child, concluding
observations (CRC/C/NGA/CO/3-4).
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91
See for examples submissions from the Zambia Chapter of GNB; the Nigerian Chapter
of GNB; Save the Children, François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and
Human Rights; the Red Elephant Foundation, and Children’s Dignity Forum (CDF)
UNFPA, Marrying too young (see note 70), p. 50.
92
Submissions from the Red Elephant Foundation, p. 14; Southall Black Sisters, p. 1; and
the Commonwealth Secretariat, p. 10.
93
This concern was raised by Southall Black Sisters and were supported by 33 other
organizations (Southall Black Sisters submission, p. 7).
94
See the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women on Botswana and Kyrgyzstan.
95
Plan International submission, p. 4. Plan International is supporting the development
of an online birth registration information system in Bangladesh, with the aim of
preventing tampering with birth dates to falsify the age of a girl at marriage.
96
In the United Kingdom, for example, victims of forced marriage have the option of
petitioning for an annulment rather than a divorce in view of the lesser stigma that is
attached to annulment (submission from Ruth Gaffney-Rhys, p. 1). In Switzerland, the
Federal Council has launched a federal programme against forced marriage which
contains preventive measures for women and girls and protective measures for those
who have already been forcefully married. The programme will run from 2013 to
2017.
97
Center for Reproductive Rights submission, p. 2.
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onus on the girl herself to apply for annulment of the marriage. In the United
Kingdom for instance, calls have been made to abolish or extend the time
limit for lodging nullity petitions in order to protect the victims of forced
marriage, as many victims are married young and “lack the confidence to
challenge their situation” in the first years of marriage, which means that
they will often be statute barred from petitioning for an annulment.98
49. Ensuring proper funding for organizations providing refuge for victims
of child, early and forced marriage is also a challenge. Women’s Aid, a United
Kingdom-based CSO which provides refuge to victims of domestic violence,
including forced marriage, reported turning away significant numbers of
women on a daily basis owing to lack of space.99
50. Concerning prevention, access to quality education for girls continues
to be a major challenge in many countries. Although various governments
have made important progress in improving access to education within the
framework of their Millennium Development Goals programmes, structural
and systemic barriers, such as entrenched social norms whereby parents
frequently opt to invest in their sons’ education over their daughters’ and
considerable resource constraints mean that a large number of young people,
particularly girls, remain out of school.100 The Government of Ethiopia
estimates that the number of schools needs to be more than doubled to cope
with the demand generated by the major increase in primary enrolments
over the past 15 years.101 Laws that prevent pregnant girls from attending
school, such as those in Papua New Guinea and Swaziland, mean that
married children’s access can be severely curtailed.102 The quality of education
also continues to remain a concern.
51. The continued presence of social pressure that views child, early and
forced marriage as a means to avoid pregnancy outside of wedlock and to
maintain honour in cases of rape, also remains a challenge.103 A small number
of submissions received reported on efforts to address stigma associated with
sexual violence and women’s sexuality.
98
Equality Now submission.
99
Submission from Ruth Gaffney-Rhys.
100
Plan International submission.
101
Ethiopia Welfare and Monitoring Survey, 2011.
102
Equality Now submission, p. 11.
103
Save the Children reported that, in Nepal, there were cases of suicide by girls who
were separated from their intended husbands (Save the Children submission, p. 5).
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marriage;
(d) Promoting women’s economic empowerment and access to
productive resources, including by addressing discriminatory norms
and practices in this regard.
(e) Addressing the widespread cultural and social acceptance of
child, early and forced marriage, including by raising awareness of its
harm to the victims and the cost to society at large and by providing
platforms and opportunities for discussion within communities and
families on the benefits of delaying marriage and ensuring that girls
receive education. The involvement of older women and of religious and
community leaders, and the engagement of men and boys as key
participants in these efforts is essential;
(f) Providing age-appropriate, culturally relevant and
empirically based comprehensive education on sexuality, sexual and
reproductive health, gender equality and life-skills training for women
and girls, and ensuring that women and girls are made aware of and
have the capacity to claim and exercise their rights in relation to
marriage;
(g) Supporting the establishment of networks to facilitate the
exchange of information between girls and young women on child, early
and forced marriage through the innovative use of technology;
(h) Implementing training programmes for government officials,
the judiciary, law enforcement and other State officials, teachers, health
and other service workers, those working with immigrants and asylum
seekers, and relevant professionals and sectors on how to identify girls
at risk or actual victims and on applicable legislation and prevention
and care measures;
(i) Providing adequate financial resources and support to
comprehensive programmes to address child, early and forced
marriage, including those aimed at married girls and those within
indigenous and rural communities, in cooperation with United Nations
agencies, regional organizations, civil society organizations and other
relevant stakeholders;
(j) Improving data collection, research and dissemination of
existing good practices and ensuring a clear analysis and assessment of
the impact of existing policies and programmes as a means of
strengthening them, ensuring their effectiveness and monitoring their
implementation.
22