Fighting Early Marriage Requires Integrated Approach - Expert

Baku/11.02.21/Turan: The sensational story of the engagement of an 11-year-old girl in the village of Ponichala of Georgia, where ethnic Azerbaijanis live compactly, has again drawn attention to the problem of early marriages.

As Turan was told in the State Committee for Family, Women and Children of Azerbaijan, marriage of persons under the age of 18 is unacceptable. These remnants of the past not only do not correspond to the legislation, but also to modern social relations.

Azerbaijan has joined the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, encouraging children to marry is a criminal offense under national law.

In case of early marriages, the responsible persons - parents, as well as others who forced a minor to marry, are subject to a fine of up to 4 thousand manats or imprisonment up to 4 years, the State Committee said.

According to the same source, in January-September 2020, 17 criminal cases related to forced early marriage were registered.

In 2012-2013 the number of early marriages in Azerbaijan was at the level of 3500-4000, but now it is about 350. That is, the statistics of early marriages has decreased from 10 times.

The number of children born in early marriages has decreased by 50% If, in 2012, this figure was 4800, now it is 2300. As noted in the state committee, for each revealed fact of early marriages, state structures are investigating.

The head of the Public Association Clean World Mehriban Zeynalova believes that the reasons for early marriages are the weak social protection of women, stereotypes, and relics of the past. In her opinion, the fight against early marriages should involve a set of measures.

“For example, we are adopting a law, taking security measures, but there is no integration of women into society. Or we take measures of punishment, but the way of thinking of people does not change,” said Zeynalova.

“One of the important issues is education. There are many facts of parents not admitting girls to schools, depriving them of the opportunity to study. The mechanism of control over this process can suppress many undesirable questions,” she said.

A comprehensive solution to the problem also requires strengthening control over the punishment mechanism, finding out on each case whether anyone has been punished for early marriage. —21B06-