Cabinet passes bill to legalise 21 as marriage age for boys and girls. Where do other countries stand?

On December 15, the Cabinet passed a bill to raise the minimum marriageable age for women from 18 to 21 years. This will bring the legal age for marriage for girls on par with boys, which is at 21 years.

The bill comes after a 2020 Task Force report revealed that bringing the legal age of marriage for girls on par with boys will reduce the maternal mortality rates, and improve nutritional levels in women.

However, it is still a bill. Now, a law is required to be passed in the Parliament to amend the laws that govern marriage such as the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, Special Marriage Act, and personal laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

But there are countries in this day and age that legally allow child marriages. Child marriages can be defined when one or both spouses are under 18 years. In some places, the legal marriageable age is even ridiculously low. And it is a no-brainer that young girls are the disproportionately affected group.

Here are 10 facts on the minimum marriageable age around the world, and some might leave you in shock:

1. AUSTRALIA

Are you surprised to find this country on the list? In Australia, an 18-year-old can marry his/her partner who is as young as 16, but with judicial approval. Basically, one person in the group of two has to be 18 years of age. The law doesn’t specify any gender.

2. THE UNITED STATES

Another surprise! Yes, child marriage is legal in the United States (with terms and conditions applied). Who would have thought?

According to the human rights organisation Equality Now, child marriage – meaning two or one of the people getting married can be below 18 years of age – is legal in 44 states of the US. Only 6 states have the minimum marriageable age set at 18 without any exceptions. And in 20 states, the minimum age for marriage is not required if with parental or judicial approval.

And what’s the result? Equality Now reported that there were nearly 2,48,000 children who were married off in the US between 2000 and 2010; the vast majority of them were girls who were wed to adult men or much older men.

3. SUDAN

The Pew Research Center reported that the African nation Sudan has the highest gender gap when it comes to legal marriageable age. Girls in Sudan can marry as young as 10, while boys can marry at 15 or at puberty without any parental or judicial approval.

4. NO MINIMUM AGE FOR MARRIAGE

Almost all countries specify a legal minimum age for marriage for boys and girls, according to Pew Research Center. However, there are 6 countries that don’t have any minimum age for marriage. These countries are Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.

5. MARRIAGE WITH PARENTAL PERMISSION

In countries such as Iraq, Jamaica and Uruguay, children can legally marry, but with parental permission.

6. LESOTHO

According to the Pew Research Center, about 1 in 5 countries in the world, that is 38, have different age minimums for men and women. And in 37 of the cases, the minimum age for girls is lower than the two.

But not in this African country - Lesotho. The country has the same marriageable age for men and women, which is 21 years. Now, if India also passes a law to increase the minimum marriageable age for girls, it would be the second such country after Lesotho.   

7. CHINA

China seems to have the highest minimum age for marriage in the world. Men are supposed to be 22 years old to legally marry, while women need to be 20.

8. SINGAPORE

While the majority of countries recognise 18 years as the legal age to marry, 27 countries require one or both spouses to be older than 18. And 14 of 27, or nearly half of the countries are in the Asia-Pacific region. We have already talked about Lesotho, the African nation to have above 18 legal marriage age.

In Singapore too, couples need to be 21 to legally marry. And under-21 couples need special permission to legally marry.  

9. BASED ON RELIGION

In some countries, including India, the Philippines and Tanzania, the legal age for marriage differs by religion. The Philippines requires couples to be 21 to marry without permission, but not if they are Muslim.

Muslim boys in the Philippines can marry as young as 15 and Muslim girls can marry at puberty.

According to Pew Research Center, in Tanzania, a country in East Africa, Muslim and Hindu girls can marry at 12. But the marriage cannot be consummated until the girl attains the age of 15.

10. INDIA

Speaking about religion, there are some ups and downs when it comes to the minimum marriageable age in India. The minimum marriageable age is different as per the Muslim personal law. It dictates that a child who has attained puberty can be legally wed. Usually, puberty is considered at 15 years of age.

Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled that an under-18 Muslim girl can marry if she has attained puberty. On the other hand, the Karnataka High Court had ruled that the PCMA takes precedence over the Muslim personal law.

Child marriages in India, across the religious spectrum, are a social evil that the country is still fighting. It’s a different debate altogether whether raising the minimum age of marriage for girls will benefit or backfire.

India may become one of the few countries in the world, like Lesotho, with the same minimum age for marriage for men and women, if it manages to pass a law, and also among the countries where the minimum age for marriage is above 18 years.