Forced and early marriage

The minor applicant, a member of the Hazara ethnic group, illegally immigrated to Austria with her parents and four minor siblings from Afghanistan when she was approximately nine years old. The Federal Asylum Agency of Austria (“FAAA”) denied her and her family’s petitions for asylum. The Asylum Court reversed the denial, finding that the FAAA erred in summarily denying asylum based on the applicant’s statements without considering outside credible reports or sources relevant to the applicant’s asylum claim.

This Act criminalizes slavery in all forms and provides protection and support for victims of trafficking. As defined by the Act, "'exploitation' includes, at the minimum, induced prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation, forced marriage, forced or bonded services, or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of human organs." The definition of trafficking is comprehensive and defined in Part 2, Section 5(3) of the Act.

The Attorney-General of Belize brought a claim under Belize’s Civil Procedure Rules to declare the marriage between the respondent and a 16-year-old minor null and void under the Marriage Act because it was executed without the consent of the child’s father.  Section 5 of the Marriage Act requires the consent of both parents before a minor can marry.  The court granted the respondent’s application to dismiss the claim because the Attorney-General should have commenced the action by petition under the Matrimonial Causes Rules.

A 16-year-old girl, R.A., a resident of Sweden, was taken to Iraq by her family, where she lived in a marriage-like relationship with a man for eight months before she was allowed to return to Sweden. According to Chapter 4 Section 4(c) of the Swedish Penal Code, a person is convicted for forced marriage for inducing another person into a marriage-like relationship, if it is concluded under rules that apply within a group and means that the parties are considered to be spouses and to have rights and obligations towards each other. In Iraq, R.A.

The Child Care, Protection, and Justice Act regulates the care and protection of children, including regulation of: the responsibilities and rights of parents; the role of local authorities; prohibiting harmful practices; procedures when children are accused of crimes; establishment of a child justice court system; and general child welfare. Under Section 78, no child can be taken without the consent of a parent of custodial figure. Punishment for such a crime is up to 10 years imprisonment.

This memorandum discusses the link between child marriage and birth and marriage registration. Section I of this memorandum focuses on birth registration, including the importance of registration, government and civil society birth registration initiatives in Bangladesh and the factors that perpetuate low rates of birth registration and recommendations for overcoming them. Section II briefly introduces marriage registration, the unreliability of which also contributes to Bangladesh’s high rates of child marriage.

This memorandum discusses the context, causes, consequences, and legal framework of child marriage in Bangladesh

This Memorandum discusses the impact of personal laws on the treatment of child marriage within Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s antiquated personal laws relating to marriage fail to protect children,reinforce support for early marriage, and directly contradict statutory law in Bangladesh. Examining Bangladesh’s current legal framework highlights the problematic influence that discriminatory personal laws have on the fulfillment of national and international obligations concerning child marriage.

This memorandum examines the occurrence of child marriage in Bangladesh and explores its link with sexual harassment. Bangladesh has one of the highest occurrences of child marriage in the world. This high rate of marriage of girls below the age of 18 is due to a variety of causes, including patriarchal social mores, parental desire to safeguard girls against premarital sex and out-of-wedlock pregnancies (and the associated social stigma associated with these), and poverty, linked with the perception of girls as an economic burden.