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	Addressing Child, Early and Forced Marriage in Eurasia by Dariana Gryaznova Equality Now   Oct. 2024   Child, early, and forced marriages (CEFM) remain a pervasive and under-addressed issue in Eurasia, with girls and young women from lower-income households, rural areas, and conflict-affected regions experiencing considerably higher rates, finds a new report by Equality Now.   ‘Breaking Barriers: Addressing Child, Early and Forced Marriage in Eurasia’ examines seven Eurasian countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – and reveals how legal and policy frameworks often fail to provide effective protection.   Girls are far more likely than boys to be married off at younger ages. Widespread acceptance of CEFM, social stigma directed at survivors, and inadequate responses from authorities mean perpetrators routinely face little or no consequences.   Support for survivors and sanctions against perpetrators of forced marriage are frequently inadequate. Suspended sentences or fines are common, undermining the law’s deterrent effect.   Gaps in legislation, weak law enforcement, underfunding, and a lack of political will are critical issues.   The majority of countries examined do not have specific national action plans or policies to tackle CEFM. While Kyrgyzstan has comprehensive measures, more action is needed to translate them into actual impact.   Dariana Gryaznova, Eurasia Legal Advisor for Equality Now, says, “Child, early, and forced marriages remain one of the most pressing human rights violations facing girls and women across Eurasia. Governments urgently need to strengthen legal protections, ensure laws are rigorously enforced, and commit the necessary resources to end CEFM.”   Child marriage in Eurasia   All seven countries have taken steps to reform CEFM laws, but only Georgia and Azerbaijan have set the minimum age of marriage at 18, without exception. The others retain legal provisions permitting marriage under 18 with parental consent and/or local authority approval. In several regions of Russia, marriage is allowed at 14.   The rate of officially registered marriages involving minors varies significantly between and within countries. Georgia has the highest prevalence, with 14% of women aged 20 to 24 married before 18, rising to 25% in rural regions like Kvemo Kartli. Kyrgyzstan also has a high rate, with approximately 13% of women in the same age bracket marrying below 18.   At 3.4%, Uzbekistan has the lowest child marriage rate and has achieved a significant decline over the past decade. However, prevalence in the Eastern region remains at 11%.   Armenia has a child marriage rate of 5% and is among the top ten countries worldwide for reducing the practice. Despite progress, child marriage remains prevalent within the Yezidi community, where girls as young as 13 or 14 are married off.CEFM is higher in some marginalized ethnic minorities, and this intersects with challenges they face, such as discrimination, social exclusion, poverty, language barriers, and being located in geographically remote areas.   This has fostered a desire among certain members of ethnic communities to protect their culture, with traditions such as child marriage perceived as a way to uphold group identity and honor. This maintains a cycle of early marriage being both a cause and consequence of socio-economic disadvantage.   Economic factors and poverty also play a significant role, with the possibility of alleviating financial pressures sometimes incentivizing parents to marry off their daughters.   Forced marriage and bride kidnapping   Abduction for forced marriage – sometimes referred to as bride kidnapping – occurs in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.   In Kyrgyzstan, for example, following the Soviet Union’s collapse, there was a resurgence in forced marriage and bride kidnapping among Kyrgyz men seeking to reassert their masculinity and reclaim cultural identity amidst social and economic upheaval.   Although Kyrgyzstan outlaws such practices, weak legal enforcement and cultural acceptance mean few cases are prosecuted, and this relies on law enforcement’s discretion.   Many victims say their families facilitated their abduction or pressured them to stay with their kidnapper. However, some report support from parents, especially in cases involving underage daughters or perpetrators with criminal backgrounds.   Gaps in legal protections are a contributing factor. Forced marriage in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan is not explicitly criminalized and falls under general provisions that don’t recognize the gendered nature of these crimes. Perpetrators in Azerbaijan and Russia are exempt from criminal liability if they voluntarily release their victims.   Fear, stigma, and inadequate support lead to underreporting   Forced marriage regularly goes unreported. Girls rarely turn to law enforcement as they are expected to accept their situation and, if a family member is involved, to not speak against them.   In Uzbekistan, silence is reinforced by the normalization of arranged marriages and the belief parents should decide their children’s marital future.   A lack of trust in authorities, limited awareness about legal protections, and insufficient support services prevent women and girls from coming forward. With “honor-based” crimes still occurring in some communities, CEFM victims usually remain silent, fearing blame and retaliation.   Once abducted, refusing marriage after spending time at a man’s home – which often results in rape – can irreparably damage a victim’s reputation, compelling her to marry her captor to avoid societal judgment, family shame, or reprisals from the perpetrator or community. Forced marriage perpetuates child marriage as worry about abduction prompts families to marry daughters early to “protect” them.   In Georgia, despite criminalization and efforts to end forced marriage, it continues in regions with minoritized communities. While the law doesn’t view reconciliation as a basis for terminating investigations, prosecutions, or deciding against initiating prosecution, in reality, it’s frequently used to dismiss cases.   Government action is needed   Equality Now urges governments to adopt a multi-sectoral approach underpinned by strengthening legal frameworks and implementation. Setting the minimum age of marriage at 18, without exceptions, is essential.   Regional trends intersect with each country’s distinct social, historical, economic, and legal context. CEFM remains entrenched in these complex landscapes, shaped by traditions, religion, and ethnic and gender discrimination.   The absence of reliable, disaggregated data hinders intervention efforts. Governments must improve data collection to measure CERM fully. This includes gathering details on sex, age, ethnicity, and other relevant factors, enabling better strategy development, enactment, and evaluation.   Educating communities on CEFM’s harms and laws, and providing well-funded, specialist support services like shelters, counseling, and legal aid are integral to transformative change. Governments should also consider financial incentives for families to discourage child marriage and keep girls in school.   Tamar Dekanosidze, Equality Now’s Regional Representative in Eurasia, concludes, “Law reform is vital, but lasting change also requires tackling the underlying factors that sustain child, early, and forced marriage.   That’s why Equality Now calls on governments to implement multi-sectoral strategies that close legal loopholes, enforce laws, engage communities, and provide women and girls with the comprehensive support they need.”   http://equalitynow.org/press_release/traditions-discrimination-and-poverty-are-driving-child-and-forced-marriage-in-eurasia/ http://equalitynow.org/resource/breaking-barriers-addressing-child-early-and-forced-marriage-in-eurasia/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/09/action-needed-confront-domestic-violence-central-asia http://equalitynow.org/resource/africanunion-goodwillambassador-childmarriage-exitreport/ Visit the related web page
	Iraq: Legalizing child marriage would rob countless girls of their futures and well-being by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International   23 Jan. 2025   Plan International condemns Iraq’s legislation enabling child marriage   Plan International calls on the Iraqi government to reconsider amendments to its Personal Status Law and to fulfil its obligations under international human rights treaties.   We express deep concern over the adoption of amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law, which will, in effect, pave the way for child, early, and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU).   The proposed changes, passed by Iraq’s Parliament on 21 January 2025, would allow individuals to decide if their marriage is handled by civil courts or religious authorities.   While Iraqi law currently sets the minimum age of marriage at 18, this new legislation could see girls as young as 9 years old to be married, based on certain interpretations of Islamic law.   The recent amendments grant expanded powers to clerics and religious courts to decide family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance.   “These deeply concerning amendments risk legitimising child marriage and reinforcing social norms that deny girls their rights and autonomy,” said Bhagyashri Dengle, Regional Director at Plan International in Asia and the Pacific.   “Child marriage is a grave violation of human rights that robs girls of their childhood. It jeopardises their health, halts their education, violates their sexual and reproductive rights and denies them the chance to have a say in their own futures. Girls who marry before 18 are more likely to experience violence, abuse and forced sexual relations, continuing the cycles of harm that have impacted countless generations of women and girls.   “Against a backdrop of international calls for the minimum legal age of marriage to be set at least at 18, Iraq’s current legal stance drastically undermines global commitments, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and Sustainable Development Goal 5.3, which aims to eliminate CEFMU by 2030”.   We call on the Iraqi government to reconsider this harmful legislation and to fulfil its obligations under international human rights treaties. We urge the government to ensure that national laws setting the minimum age of marriage at 18 are upheld and take precedence over religious, customary or traditional norms.   “We demand that all governments adopt and enforce laws that protect children – especially girls – from the harmful impacts of early marriage, to build a safer and more equal world for all,” Dengle stated.   We remain committed to advocating for the rights of girls and young women worldwide and urges global leaders to stand united against harmful practices like child marriage.   http://plan-international.org/news/2025/01/23/plan-condemns-iraqs-legislation-enabling-child-marriage/   19 Aug. 2024   Iraq: Legalizing child marriage would rob countless girls of their futures and well-being, by Sarah Sanbar-Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch   Iraq’s parliament is moving forward an amendment to the country’s Personal Status Law that would allow Iraqi religious authorities, rather than state law, to govern marriage and inheritance matters at the expense of fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said today.   The Iraqi parliament, which completed its first reading of the bill on August 4, 2024, will have two more readings of the bill and a debate before deciding whether to vote it into law.   If passed, the amendment would have disastrous effects on women’s and girls’ rights guaranteed under international law by allowing marriage for girls as young as 9, undermining the principle of equality under Iraqi law, and removing protections for women regarding divorce and inheritance.   Child marriage puts girls at increased risk of sexual and physical violence, adverse physical and mental health consequences, and being denied access to education and employment.   “The Iraqi parliament’s passage of this bill would be a devastating step backward for Iraqi women and girls and the rights they have fought hard to enshrine in law,” said Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch.   “Formally legalizing child marriage would rob countless girls of their futures and well-being. Girls belong in school and on the playground, not in a wedding dress.”   The draft amendment would legalize, rather than try to reverse, Iraq’s significant and growing child marriage problem, Human Rights Watch said.   Iraqi rights groups and activists have taken to the streets to protest the amendment, and a group of more than 15 women parliament members from diverse parties have come together to oppose its passage. Parliament proposed similar amendments to the Personal Status Law in 2014 and again in 2017, both of which failed to pass.   Under the draft amendment, couples concluding a marriage contract could choose whether the provisions of the Personal Status Law or the provisions of specific Islamic schools of jurisprudence would apply. If couples are from different sects, the school followed by the husband’s sect would apply.   This arrangement would effectively establish separate legal regimes with different rights accorded to different sects. It would further enshrine sectarianism in Iraq, undermining the right to legal equality for all Iraqis found in article 14 of the constitution and international human rights law.   For instance, the Jaafari school of law, which many Shia Muslims in Iraq follow, allows for girls as young as 9 and boys as young as 15 to be married. The Personal Status Law sets the legal age for marriage at 18, or 15 with a judge’s permission and depending on the child’s “maturity and physical capacity,” which already contravenes international legal standards and best practices.   The draft amendment would also authenticate unregistered marriages, which are conducted by religious leaders but not registered with personal status courts and are illegal under the current Personal Status Law. The amendment would also remove criminal punishments for men entering into these marriages and allow religious leaders, rather than the courts, to finalize marriages.   Unregistered marriages are already a loophole enabling child marriage in Iraq, where child marriage rates have been rising over the last 20 years, a March 2024 report by Human Rights Watch found.   The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that 28 percent of girls in Iraq are married before age 18. According to the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, 22 percent of unregistered marriages involved girls under age 14.   Unregistered marriages also have extremely harmful effects on women and girls’ ability to obtain government services, register their children’s birth, and claim their rights, Human Rights Watch said.   Without a civil marriage certificate, women and girls are unable to give birth in hospitals, itself an unjust obstruction to health care, and are forced to give birth at home with limited access to emergency obstetric services.   This increases the risk of medical complications that threaten the life of both the mother and her baby. Children and young women are especially vulnerable to some pregnancy complications.   The amendment would also remove and undermine protections for divorced women. Under the existing Personal Status Law, if a husband requests a divorce, the wife has the right to remain in their marital home for three years at the husband’s expense and to receive two years of spousal maintenance and the current value of her dowry. If a wife requests a divorce, a judge can award her some of these benefits depending on the circumstances.   If religious law were applied, women would lose many of these protections. For example, under the Jaafari school of law, a woman who gets divorced has no right to the marital home, maintenance, or her dowry, and children would continue living with her for only two years, regardless of their age, contingent on her not remarrying.   Women would also lose some inheritance rights. Even under existing law, daughters inherit a lower proportion of a parent’s wealth than sons. But under some religious laws, daughters would inherit even less, and if a family has no son to inherit the agricultural land, it would revert to the state.   Finally, the amendment stipulates that the Scholar Council of the Shia Endowment Office and the Fatwa Council of the Sunni Endowment Office will develop a “code of Sharia [Islamic law] rulings on personal status matters” and submit it to the house of representatives within six months from the date of entry into force of the law.   This would mean lawmakers and the general public would not have a chance to review or vote on the code before it becomes law, removing democratic oversight and granting disproportionate power to religious authorities in setting the law, Human Rights Watch said.   The proposed amendment would violate the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which Iraq ratified in 1986, by depriving women and girls of their rights on the basis of their gender.   The amendment also violates the Convention on Rights of the Child, which Iraq ratified in 1994, by legalizing child marriage, putting girls at risk of forced and early marriage, leaving them susceptible to sexual abuse, and not requiring decisions about children in divorce cases to be made in the best interests of the child.   The draft amendment appears to violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by depriving certain people of their rights on the basis of their religion.   “Iraqi parliamentarians should reject efforts to strip women and girls of their legal protections and refuse to undo decades of hard-won rights,” Sanbar said. “Failure to do so means current and future generations of Iraqi women will remain strangled by an oppressive patriarchal legal system.”   http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/10/iraq-reject-changes-to-personal-status-law-which-would-allow-child-marriage-and-further-entrench-discrimination/ http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/articles/iraq-new-draft-bill-could-allow-girls-as-young-as-9-years-old-to-get-married/ http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/articles/ http://www.passblue.com/2024/11/27/iraqs-planned-marriage-bill-seriously-threatens-the-rights-of-women-and-girls/ http://www.unicef.org/protection/child-marriage http://www.unfpa.org/child-marriage   Nov. 2024   Libya: Authorities must drop plans to impose compulsory veiling amid wider crackdown on ‘morality’ grounds. (Amnesty International)   Responding to an announcement by Libya’s Tripoli-based Minister of Interior in the Government of National Unity (GNU), Emad al-Trabulsi, of sweeping measures that would further entrench discrimination against women and girls and violate the rights to freedom of expression, religion, belief and bodily autonomy, including plans for “morality police” to enforce compulsory veiling, Bassam Al Kantar, Amnesty International’s Libya Researcher, said:   “The Minister of Interior’s threats to crack down on fundamental freedoms in the name of ‘morality’ are a dangerous escalation in the already suffocating levels of repression facing those in Libya not adhering to dominant social norms. Proposals to impose compulsory veiling on women and girls as young as nine, restrict interactions between men and women, and police young people’s personal choices with regards to hairstyles and clothing are not only deeply alarming, but also violate Libya’s obligations under international law.   “In a further attack on women’s rights and equality, the GNU’s Minister of Interior has proposed forcing women to seek the permission of male guardians before they can travel abroad and boasted about forcibly returning from Tunisia two Libyan women who travelled without ‘guardians’. He has also announced plans for ‘morality police’ to monitor public spaces, workplaces and personal interactions in flagrant violation of individuals’ privacy, autonomy, and freedom of expression..   http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/11/libya-authorities-must-drop-plans-to-impose-compulsory-veiling-amid-wider-crackdown-on-morality-grounds/ http://www.icj.org/libya-urgent-action-is-needed-to-address-widespread-violence-against-women-in-the-country/
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