Colombia To Ban Child Marriage After 17-Year Battle For Change

Colombian lawmakers have successfully passed a bill to outlaw child marriage in the country. It has been 17 years since campaign groups have been pleading for the enactment of this law, even while its political opponents created a roadblock for it for years.

On Wednesday, this long-pending bill was cleared after a marathon five-hour debate. Known as the “They Are Girls, Not Wives” bill, the law prohibits marriage for anyone under 18 years.

Finally End To 137-Year Policy Loophole

The approval marks the end of a 137-year-old loophole in Colombia’s civil code that allowed minors with parental consent to marry. Such was the case with children before this law was passed, who could contract an informal marriage known as de facto cohabitation when they have lived together for two years.

Proponents have argued about this practice to which young girls fell victims through systematic abuse, sexual exploitation, and violation of their rights. Congresswoman from the Dignity and Commitment Party Jennifer Pedraza voted and later said with full of pride:

“We do not want to continue seeing the systematic violence and sexual exploitation of children. Colombia is making history because, for the first time, we have managed to ban child marriage after trying eight times,” Pedraza said. “So it is a great message, not only for Colombia in terms of respect for the rights of boys and girls but also for the world.”

Colombia Pledges To Put End To Child Marriage

Colombia joins that elite group in Latin America and the Caribbean, along with Honduras, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic in banning child marriage entirely. Colombia is among 12 countries in the region, which passed its local legislation with the legal marriage age set at 18 years-old-a step forward for better alignment with international standards on children’s rights.

This bill, if passed, will surely address one of the worst issues associated with child marriage-the thing plaguing millions of young girls in this country. According to UNICEF, 4.5 million girls and women in Colombia were married before reaching the age of 18, and almost a million of these were married before they were 15 years old. Rates of child marriage are three times higher for girls than for boys and are also significantly higher among children from rural or Indigenous communities in Canada.

Factors Of Culture And Economy Included

Despite years of economic growth and social development, child marriage in Colombia remained prevalent. Child marriage is as much a result of societal structure and the attendant culture as anything else. According to Marta Royo, the executive director for Profamilia-an organization that advocates for reproductive health services-“Colombia is so patriarchal that it institutionalized children’s marriage.”.

“We live in an extremely patriarchal society where there is a deep division between what a man wants and what a girl wants,” Royo explained. “In many areas we have a role in life and that role is simply to be mothers, it doesn’t matter at how early an age. It is totally normalised to make girls of 12, 13, 14 not just into wives, but into mothers.”

Advocacy Groups Hail The Law

Advocacy groups have lobbied for 17 years to end the practice, which they argue is linked to poverty and the lack of economic opportunities. Such was the sentiment by Sandra Ramirez, adviser for Latin America at the advocacy organization Equality Now, who described the passage of the law as a step in the right direction in aligning the country’s legislation to international standards.

“Elimination of these exceptions brings Colombian law in line with the international law and ensures the full protection of girls’ and adolescents’ rights,” Ramirez said.

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