25th November 2024
In 2015, all UN Member States committed to eliminate child, early and forced marriage by 2030 under the auspices of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 5.3. While the measured indicators associated with SDG include an assessment of child marriage, there is no indicator evaluating States’ progress on eliminating early or Forced Marriage.
The Forced Marriage in Domestic Legislation database (Legibase) is intended to provide new evidence on the current state of national provisions addressing forced marriage and related concerns globally. It interrogates the current reality of State’s national-level legislative frameworks for addressing forced marriage, consent to marriage, servile matrimonial transactions, marriage trafficking and the minimum age for marriage.
The domestic legislation concerning forced marriage show that national engagement with the commitment to eliminating forced marriage is irregular, inconsistent and incomplete. The study demonstrates a lack of systemisation and harmonisation between States at both the regional and international levels, resulting in inconsistent projections from one State to the next. The database highlights large-scale shortcomings, but also highlights examples of promising practice in legislating against forced marriage, which may guide reform. By identifying where and how progress has been made, and providing examples of good practice and different approaches, the database can inform efforts to improve the legal response to forced marriage and related concerns around the world.
At Karma Nirvana, we recognise that while we have some of the right laws on paper, individuals are still not fully protected. In England and Wales, we still are unable to report on how many cases of Child Marriage occur every year, and we are pleased to announce this resource as the starting point of holding States to account. Karma Nirvana is keen to continue our work with partners to eliminate Child Marriage.
Summary:
- The Forced Marriage Domestic Legislation Database (“Legibase”) compiles the constitutional, criminal, labour, civil and family laws in all 193 UN Member states on forced marriage and minimum age of marriage in one comprehensive resource.
- This long-term project began in 2020, with initial data collection led by Dr Hannah Baumeister. Dr Helen McCabe and Dr Katrina Schwarz, in collaboration with Karma Nirvana, focused on exploring the connection between forced marriage and modern slavery.
- The interactive website has two key features:
- Global Map: Users can filter the map to see which countries are signatories to relevant international conventions or have specific provisions prohibiting practices like forced marriage.
- Country Pages: These provide detailed insights into individual countries, including their “score,” prohibitions, and legislation.
- An empirical analysis of national provisions globally has also been published to present the initial findings from the study
The database will be available to access within the next few weeks, and you can read the report below or on the University of Nottingham’s website.
A huge congratulations to the research team for completing this project, and we hope this resource can inform efforts to improve the legal response to forced marriage and related concerns across the globe.
