Minimum legal age to get married set to rise to 18
from The Times:
[…] The minimum legal age to get married is set to be raised to 18 in an attempt to combat forced unions. At present people aged 16 are allowed to marry with their parents’ consent. Campaigners have long said that the status quo facilitates sexual abuse when women are forced into marriages.
Sajid Javid, the former chancellor, is introducing a private member’s bill next week that will make it illegal for anyone to marry below the age of 18. Justice ministers have indicated to Javid that they will back the bill and give it time on the floor of the House of Commons, all but guaranteeing that it will be passed. It is expected to receive cross-party support. Javid, who vowed as home secretary to act on the findings of an investigation by this newspaper into forced marriages in Britain, said he viewed people of 16 being pushed into marriage as “child abuse”.
Read here (£)
These children are rarely lovestruck teens . . . they are coerced young girls. by Sajid Javid, The Times
Children under the age of 18 in our country are not permitted to buy fireworks, get a tattoo or sign up for a credit card. The law recognises that 18 is the age of adulthood and protects those under that age from making decisions they cannot understand the gravity of.
What many people do not realise is that laws dating back to before the Second World War mean that child marriage is still legal in our country. Children aged over 16 can be legally married with their parents’ permission. In Scotland they do not even require parental consent.
Read here (£)
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