- How long do countries protect girls from child marriage?
- How long do countries protect boys from child marriage?
- How long do countries protect girls from marriage compared to boys?
The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women provides for the prohibition of child marriage in Article 16(2), stating that, “The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage and to make the registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory.” The article is designed to protect all children and youth up to 18 years old from the extensively documented adverse effects on health, education, and autonomy of early marriage.
In this section we present maps that demonstrate protections from early marriage for girls and boys, as well as a comparison of the two.