Campaigners have warned that a legal loophole allowing 16- and 17-year-olds in England and Wales to marry with parental consent is being exploited to coerce young people into child marriage. More than 20 organisations have signed a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, arguing that current forced marriage law does not go far enough to protect young people.
The letter, from the Girls Not Brides UK partnership, states: “Child marriage is often viewed as a ‘developing world issue’ and one that exclusively takes place overseas. The reality is that child marriage is an invisible but thriving issue in the UK today.” Diana Nammi, founder of the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation, said failures in safeguarding under the current law lead to consequences including reduced education, mental health problems and increased domestic violence.
Payzee Mahmod, a former British child bride whose sister Banaz was murdered in an honour killing, said: “Child marriage is a hidden crime… Girls are raped on their wedding nights by older men and it is common for them to have forced pregnancies.” During lockdown, Mahmod was contacted by girls as young as 14 seeking help, and she fears the pandemic may have put more children at risk.
Under laws dating from before the Second World War, 16- and 17-year-olds can marry with parental consent, a loophole campaigners say leaves them vulnerable to grooming. In Scotland, the legal age is 16 with no parental consent needed. The letter notes that existing forced marriage law places the burden on children to speak out against their own families, which many are too terrified to do.
Javed Khan, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: “The government has rightly committed to all children being in education until the age of 18. But we now need safeguards to prevent coerced marriages for under-18s.” The letter also highlights that UK law undermines efforts to end child marriage overseas, with Bangladesh citing England and Wales as hypocritical for lowering its own minimum marriage age.
