We need to do more to prevent child marriage in the UK

When people hear of child marriage in developing nations they are rightly appalled, but many have no idea it is happening legally in the UK.

Sophie (not her real name) was just 16 when her family found out about her boyfriend. She was taken to her uncle’s home and held in an upstairs room. Her family told her she had brought shame upon them and the only solution was to get married or they’d force her to have surgery to ‘make her a virgin again.’ Sophie was able to escape and went straight to the police. However, she quickly found the burden was on her to provide testimony to police to prove that the proposed marriage was ‘forced’. Under intense pressure from her family, Sophie started having panic attacks and withdrew her complaint.

As it stands, civil law permits child marriage under the age of 18 across the UK, including in England and Wales, through the legal exception of parental consent. This legal exception allows coercion from a child’s family and community to go unchecked and, as a result, children are forced into marriages against their will.

The only way for a child to prevent their marriage is to report to police that they have not consented so that the marriage qualifies as ‘forced.’ However, many children do not recognise the pressure they are under to comply with their parents will, not least as the assumption of marriage will have been a given and accepted from the youngest age.

The reality though is harsh. Imagine, being a girl about to sit your GCSEs. You have hopes of going on to study A Levels. Yet when you turn 16, your parents sit you down and tell you they’ve arranged for your marriage to a man in his mid-twenties. Despite feeling that you’re too young to get married, despite wanting to carry on with your studies and having dreams of attending university, your parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts all tell you that it is proper to get married now and to begin making a home. Underlying all this is the fact that, like any child, you are reliant on your family for a place to live and something to eat. At 16, what do you really know about the world anyway? Maybe, you think, it’s best just to heed the advice of those who love you most and accept the marriage.

Child marriage is child abuse. The onus should not be on the child to recognise this and seek justice. It should be a crime to marry anyone under the age of 18, regardless of whether the marriage takes place in the UK or is officially registered. Children, of course, would be exempt from prosecution but parents and faith leaders who sanction child marriages should be held culpable.

This would send a clear message that marriage is a solemn undertaking between two consenting adults and that it is not possible for a child to consent to such a bond.

The minimum age of 16 was set in 1929 when living together or falling pregnant out of wedlock was socially unacceptable. It is now patently out of date and in need of revision. Moreover, it is profoundly illiberal. Child marriage causes increased risk of teenage pregnancy, domestic and sexual violence and social isolation while limiting the child’s future educational and employment prospects.

Child marriage in the UK is an issue with a substantial number of victims. Between 2006 and 2016, 3,354 marriages involving 16 and 17 years olds were registered in England and Wales. However, registered marriages are only a part of the picture as the official statistics do not capture non-registered religious or cultural marriages or marriages that take place abroad. In fact, in 2018 alone, the Home Office’s Forced Marriage Unit dealt with 574 cases involving children aged 17 and under. 3 in 4 of those victims were female.

As part of its international development work, the UK Government promotes and funds girls’ access to education. A key element of this, the Government recognises, is ending child marriage. The UK even successfully fought for a commitment to end child marriage by 2030 as one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is sheer hypocrisy to preach this dictum in Bangladesh when it does not apply in Britain.

Support for legal change is growing. A number of charities are working with MPs cross-party to catalyse action in parliament. Encouragingly, the new Home Secretary has previously signalled support for legislation.

The Government must act now to protect the fundamental individual liberties of each child so that they are able to exercise their right to a full childhood, complete their education and choose their spouse unencumbered by others.