The phenomenon of child marriages in the EU
4.10.2017
Question for written answer E-006213-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Agnieszka Kozłowska-Rajewicz (PPE)
Child marriage is a global scourge, of which the victims are usually young girls. In developing countries, one in nine brides are under the age of 15, and ‘weddings’ take place between adult, even old, men and children who are even younger. These marriages are for the most part socially accepted in these countries on the grounds of custom, tradition and religion. They even happen in the EU, despite the fact that in EU Member States an adult having sexual contact with a child is classified as paedophilia.
This legal and cultural conflict requires immediate solutions, such as the prohibition of marriage with children under the age of 15 and the non-recognition of any such union concluded in third countries, and for criminal action to be taken against adults who justify living together with a child on the grounds of having previously concluded a marriage.
1. Under European legislation on human rights, children’s rights and women’s rights, does the Commission have the power to introduce such a ban?2. Does the Commission monitor cases of recognition of child marriages in Member States from the point of view of potential human rights violations?3. Given the cross-border, supranational aspects of the problem of child brides, which is similar in nature to human trafficking, does the Commission intend to broaden the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention to include the issue of combating child marriage?