INTERNATIONAL LAWS PROTECTING CHILD BRIDES

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

The right to a 'free and full' consent to a marriage is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. The recognition that consent cannot be 'free and full' when one of the parties involved is not
sufficiently mature to make an informed decision about a life partner is a violation of the UDHR.

The UDHR Provisions Relating to Child Marriage:

Article 16:

(a) Men and women of full age.have the right to marry and find a family. They are entitled to equal
rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

(b) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending parties. Similar
provisions are included in 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the
International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights.

What is the impact of Child Marriage: Human rights and justice talks about how the violation of the
rule stated above affects Human rights and justice.

Child marriage is a serious human rights violation affecting childrens and womens rights to
health, education, equality, non-discrimination and to live free from violence and exploitation.
These are rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW), as well as other international and regional human rights instruments.

In some cases, child marriage could be considered slavery. When children are bought and sold
under the guise of marriage for the purposes of sexual exploitation or when they are trafficked
into forced marriages, their cases meet internationally recognized definitions of slavery or
slavery-like practices.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was carefully drafted over the course of ten years from 1979
to1989. The CRC recognizes that children are entitled to human rights in their own right. Thus, the CRC
reflects a movement away from the view of the child as a recipient of privileges bestowed at the
discretion the family, community and the State towards a more progressive view of the child as the
bearer of legal rights under international law
The CRC Provisions Relating to Child Marriage:

Article 1: A child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law
applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier

Article 2: Freedom from discrimination on any grounds, including sex, religion, ethnic or social origin,
birth or other status

Article 3: In all actions concerning childrenthe best interests of the child shall be a primary
consideration.

Article 6: Maximum support for survival and development

Article 12: The right to express his or her views freely in all matters affecting the child in accordance with
age and maturity

Article 19: The right to protection from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse,
maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parents, guardian or any other
person

Article 24: The right to health and to access to health services; and to be protected from harmful
traditional practices

Articles 28 and 29: The right to education on the basis of equal opportunity

Article 34: The right to protection from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse

Article 35: The right to protection from abduction, sale or trafficking

Article 36: The right to protection from all forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspect of the childs
welfare

It is explained below the function of the said Committee on the Rights of the Child: What it is and how it
works.

The Committee for the Rights of the Child is the body which supervises the implementation of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Committee was created by the Convention on
February 27th, 1991.

Creation of the Committee

When the Convention was ratified in the 80s, Poland proposed to implement a supervision
mechanism that would require each country to submit some regular reports to the United
Nations Economic and Social Council. This proposal was not accepted, but discussions started on
the role of the Committee for the Rights of the Child.
 The Convention was thus completed by three articles, which include the creation, the
composition, the functioning, and the role of the Committee.

The elections of the Committee members began when the Convention was ratified on November
20th, 1989. The representatives of each member state of the Convention are called together to
elect the members of the Committee for the Rights of the Child. The Committee was created and
came into force on February 27th, 1991.

Composition and functioning of the Committee

Article 43 of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child provides the composition
and the functioning of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The Committee is an independent and international body which supervises the application of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child by the member states. It is made up of 18 self-employed
experts on childrens rights, with high moral standards.

Three annual three-week sessions are being held by the Committee in Geneva (in January, May,
and September).

The Committee supervises the enforcement of the Convention by assisting states in its
implementation, by cooperating with other bodies of the United Nations and with non-
government organizations, and by spreading wide information about the rights of the child.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against

Women (CEDAW)

The CEDAW is structured in six parts.

Part I of the Convention (Articles 1-6), States Parties agree to take all appropriate measures to bring
about the advancement of women.

Part II (Articles 7-9), States undertake to protect womens rights in political and public life.

Part III (Articles 10-14), governments make various commitments to eliminate discrimination in
education, employment, health, and in economic, social and cultural life.

Part IV-VI, States Parties agree to afford women equality with men before the law in exercise of legal
rights and in the marriage and family law.

Article 16 (1) prescribes equally for men and women:

(a) The same right to enter into marriage

 (b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full
consent
(c) Article 16 (2) states: The betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and all
necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted
in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women.
Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women
and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

The Convention defines discrimination against women as "...any distinction, exclusion or restriction
made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition,
enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men
and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural,
civil or any other field."

By accepting the Convention, States commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end
discrimination against women in all forms, including:

to incorporate the principle of equality of men and women in their legal system, abolish all
discriminatory laws and adopt appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women;

to establish tribunals and other public institutions to ensure the effective protection of women
against discrimination; and

to ensure elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons, organizations or

enterprises.

The Convention on the Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and
Registration of Marriage

Article 1:

No marriage shall be legally entered into without the full and free consent of both parties, such consent
to be expressed by them in person as prescribed by law.

Article 2:

State Parties to the convention shall specify a minimum age for marriage ("not less than 15 years"
according to the non binding recommendation accompanying this Convention). No marriage shall be
legally entered into by any person under this age, except where a competent authority has granted a
dispensation as to age, for serious reasons, in the interests of the intending spouses

Article 3:

All marriages shall be registered in an appropriate official register by the competent authority.
Article 23 of the ICCPR establish for the rights of men and women of marriageable age to marry. It also
states that no marriage shall be entered into without the free and full consent of the intending spouse.

References:
http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/themes/human-rights-and-justice/
http://www.humanium.org/en/convention/committee/
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/