Minimum Marriage Age To Be Increased In England And Wales
Topics: News
Isobel Pankhurst
Featured Image Credit: Unsplash/Shutterstock
Topics: News
The minimum marriage age in England and Wales is set to be raised to 18 in coming days in a bid to stop child brides being forced into wedlock.
Previously, the law stated that 16 and 17 year olds could get married with parental consent, but the new laws will see a crack down on this.
Under the new law, adults who facilitate marriage for anyone under the age of 18 could face up to seven years in prison as well as a fine. The children will not face any legal penalties.
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The new law also prevents parents from talking children abroad to marry before they turn 18.
The new bill was introduced to parliament by Conservative MP Pauline Latham.
Having passed through parliament without much opposition, the bill is expected to become law later this week once it receives Royal Assent.
Payzee Malika, who was coerced into a marriage, said: "Today, tears of joy roll down my face because I know what this means for girls like me."
While Payzee escaped her marriage, her sister Banaz was murdered in a so-called honour killing.
"This is for me, for Banaz, for any child impacted by child marriage." She tweeted.
"There has not been a single moment in this journey when Banaz was not at the forefront of my thoughts. Every day I thought of her. I fought for her.
"This law could have saved her."
Tweeting about the passing of the bill Women's Rights NGO IKWRO added: "Now we need to see education of every safeguarding professional and every child - child marriage must never happen again."
The new law will not affect the validity of any marriages or civil partnerships that happened before the legislation comes into force.
It does not apply to Northern Ireland and Scotland, where the minimum age will stay at 16 - in Northern Ireland you still need parental consent to marry at 16, but in Scotland you don't.