Child marriage- what does it mean?
What is it?
Here in Canada
What is it?
When a person under 18 marries an adult or another person under 18, this is child marriage- and it's dangerous, especially to girls. More often than not, girls who marry sacrifice their education, and therefore their choices, plus they suffer health risks through early pregnancies, and tend to be more at risk for domestic violence. Frequently support is not available for a minor suffering domestic violence.
UN Says
Here in Canada
What is it?
According to the United Nations, before the pandemic, 100 million girls were expected to be married before their 18th birthday, and this number has increased by 10 million as a result of the pandemic.
Here in Canada
Here in Canada
Here in Canada
We may think that this is a problem that happens far, far away and so we should focus our campaigning efforts on changing the law on other continents. But let us look to our own doorstep first ... Here, within Canada, between 2000 and 2018 there were 3,382 marriage licenses involving minors issued Canada-wide. And 429 of those were within BC .
Take on Child Marriage in Canada
Most Canadians believe there is a prohibition against marrying before the age of 18. The trouble is, there is no federal law: each province has its own stipulations, and, generally, there is allowance made for marriage "with parental consent". How exactly does this protect young girls?
A study at McGill showed that marriage before the age of 18 prevails from coast to coast to coast, and that even informal (common law) unions at a young age can be severely detrimental.
Clearly the law needs changing. Among other things, a group of Canadian Zontians (Canada Caucus) meets regularly to discuss how to bring about change.