Human rights activists and medical experts have called on the government to take concrete steps to prevent underage marriages. Campaigners say poverty is one of the main drivers of child marriage in Pakistan. Makarem explained that Save the Children and Nabaa, a local NGO, launched the national campaign to end child marriage in Lebanon last week. The campaign coincides with the global campaign “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” (25 November – 10 December 2021), launched under the global theme of the UN Secretary-General`s UNiTE campaign: “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!” In addition to legislative reforms and active awareness-raising campaigns, humanitarian organisations see poverty reduction and the economic security of vulnerable communities as key to ending child marriage. “The fact that girls are much more likely than boys to marry before reaching adulthood indicates that gender inequality is the main driver of child marriage. Discrimination against women and girls exacerbates many of the factors and consequences of early marriage, including education, poverty, protection and conflict,” said Makarem. The bill would punish anyone who contributes to or is involved in child marriage with fines equal to 10 times the minimum wage and prison sentences ranging from six months to two years. The draft law was prepared by the Democratic Rally of Lebanese Women and presented by Elie Keirouz, Member of Parliament. According to a 2016 UNICEF report, six per cent of women in Lebanon married between the ages of 20 and 24 before the age of 18. Child marriage appears to be on the rise among the more than 1 million Syrian refugees in the country, with a 2017 study revealing that 24% of refugee girls aged 15-17 are married. Women`s rights organizations in Lebanon, including Kafa and Abaad, have long campaigned to set the minimum age of marriage at 18. Early marriage can have disastrous consequences throughout life and often hinder or undermine a girl`s ability to realize a wide range of human rights, Human Rights Watch said. Girls who marry early are more likely to drop out of school and face an increased risk of marital rape, domestic violence, limited access to decent work, exploitation and a range of health problems due to early birth.
The benefits of ending child marriage are transformative and far-reaching. Addressing child marriage is a strategic way to promote women`s rights and empowerment in a variety of areas, including health, education, work, non-violence and participation in public life. In addition to adopting and enforcing the law, Lebanese authorities should initiate criminal proceedings against spouses, parents, and adult local authorities who prosecute the practice. Authorities should also develop programmes to prevent child marriage, such as empowering girls with information and support networks, girls` access to quality education, and engaging and educating parents and community members about the negative effects of child marriage. Lebanon is a party to a number of international conventions that expressly prohibit or have been interpreted as child marriage, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. UN committees overseeing its implementation have also called on states parties to set the minimum age of marriage at 18 and take steps to eliminate child marriage. A number of other countries in the Middle East and North Africa have set the minimum age of marriage at 18 or older, with some allowing exceptions in certain circumstances. These include Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
Lebanon`s parliament should take additional steps to protect women`s rights in the country, Human Rights Watch said. It should criminalize marital rape and repeal article 522 of the Penal Code, which allows rapists to escape prosecution by marrying their victims. “Setting the minimum age of marriage at 18 is a sensible step that will have a real impact on the lives of girls in Lebanon,” Fakih said. “Parliament should pass the law immediately.” In an exception to Resolution 62, those who wish to marry before the age of 18 must be at least 15 years of age and the union requires the consent of the minor and the legal guardian. Lebanon does not have a minimum age for marriage for all its citizens or a civil code that regulates civil status matters. Instead, religious courts set the age based on 15 civil status laws, some of which allow girls under the age of 15 to marry. A bill tabled on March 28, 2017 would set the minimum age of marriage at 18 without exception. “A law banning child marriage is long overdue for Lebanon,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
“Setting the national minimum age of marriage at 18 will go a long way to protecting children from the horrors of early marriage. Lebanon`s Supreme Council for Children is leading the development of a national strategy and action plan specifically to address child marriage. (Beirut) – Lebanon`s parliament should swiftly pass laws to end child marriage in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Speaking to Orient Today about Save the Children (SC)`s efforts to end child marriage in Lebanon, Shireen Makarem, the organisation`s advocacy and campaigns officer, explained that while the lack of legal protection against child marriage is a significant barrier to ending child marriage, it is not the ultimate cause. She explained that a variety of mutually reinforcing factors lead children and their families to accept early marriage as a strategy to cope with their precarious situation. * 2030 is the United Nations Sustainable Development Target Year for the Abolition of Marriage Before the Age of 18 There are no firm dates yet. Salhab said. Before the current health and economic crisis, she added, the number of underage marriages in Lebanon had decreased. “But we can say that child marriage as an issue is more visible in communities where it wasn`t necessarily an issue,” Salhab said.
A 2017 Human Rights Watch report said it was a “reasonable measure” to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 without exception. Such a law was drafted the same year, but was never passed. Displacement: Palestinian and Syrian refugee girls are increasingly engaging in child marriage, particularly in the Bekaa Valley, Akkar (northern Lebanon). It is increasing even among displaced Syrian urban communities (areas where child marriage was not common before the conflict). It is often organized by families to protect their daughters from sexual abuse in the camps (as well as the family`s honor) and to give them security. Those who live outside tent camps are more concerned about the safety of their daughters. Lack of access to education and the need for families to reduce the perceived economic burden also push families to marry off their daughters early. A 2016 report highlights that some child marriages among Syrian refugees are arranged by intermediaries and result in the sexual slavery of girls. A 2017 study found that many Syrian families acknowledge the harms of child marriage, but have few alternative options in refugee camps. The engagement periods are shortened and the girls are quickly married. Lebanon is committed to eradicating child, early and forced marriage by 2030, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 5.3.
Although the government did not provide an update on progress towards this goal during its voluntary national review at the 2018 High-Level Political Forum, it is mentioned that in August 2017, Parliament abolished Article 522 of the Penal Code, which allowed prosecutors to drop charges against a rapist if he marries his victim. At first glance, child marriage appears to be less common in Lebanon than in other Middle Eastern states. Six per cent of Lebanese women aged 20-24 were married by the age of 18 in 2009, compared to 18 per cent in the MENA region. However, this figure obscures the fact that rates of child marriage in Lebanon are among the most stratified in the region. Among women aged 20-24, 40.5 per cent of Syrian women, 25 per cent of Palestinian refugees from Syria (PRS) and 12 per cent of Palestinian refugees from Lebanon (PRL) married as children. The marriage rate among Syrian refugee girls increased by 7% between 2017 and 2018, suggesting that the risk of child marriage is increasing. Lebanon hosts up to 1.5 million Syrian refugees, 18 of whom are at serious protection risk. Perhaps one of the most worrying problems in Lebanon right now is that underage marriage seems to be becoming widespread. Under Resolution 62, minors married against their will can now apply for annulment. Legal guardians may also request the annulment of the marriage of the minor if it took place without their consent.
To solve this problem, several things need to happen at once, Eriksson said. First, Lebanon needs a civil status law or something similar. “Second, services and support are needed for families and children,” Eriksson said. This includes everything from access to education and sexual and reproductive health information for adolescents to emergency cash transfers to families in need. Finally, there must be broad promotion of different attitudes towards gender roles – including the idea of early marriage.