Editing Child marriage (section)

====Latin America====
Child marriage is common in [[Latin America]] and the [[Caribbean]] island nations. About 29% of girls were married before age 18 (as of 2007).<ref name="pbs2010" /> The [[Dominican Republic]], [[Honduras]], [[Brazil]], [[Guatemala]], [[Nicaragua]], [[Haiti]], and [[Ecuador]] report some of the highest rates in the [[Americas]],<ref name="unfpa.org" /> while [[Bolivia]] and [[Guyana]] have shown the sharpest decline in child marriage rates as of 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=Marrying Too Young: End Child Marriage|url=http://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/MarryingTooYoung.pdf|publisher=[[United Nations Population Fund|UNFPA]]|page=24}}</ref> Brazil is ranked fourth in the world in terms of absolute numbers of girls married or cohabitating by age 15.<ref name="blogs.cfr.org">{{cite web|title = Women Around the World » Child Marriage in Latin America|url = http://blogs.cfr.org/women-around-the-world/2015/08/04/child-marriage-in-latin-america/|website = Council on Foreign Relations – Women Around the World|access-date = 2015-12-10|language = en-US|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151211000316/http://blogs.cfr.org/women-around-the-world/2015/08/04/child-marriage-in-latin-america/|archive-date = 2015-12-11|url-status = dead}}</ref>

Poverty and lack of laws mandating minimum age for marriage have been cited as reasons for child marriage in Latin America.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/digest7e.pdf|title=Early Marriages – Child Spouses|publisher=UNICEF|year=2010|pages=5–9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plan-uk.org/resources/documents/Breaking-Vows-Early-and-Forced-Marriage-and-Girls-Education|title=Breaking Vows: Early and Forced Marriage and Girls' Education|first1=Juliette|last1=Myers|first2=Rowan|last2=Harvey|publisher=Plan UK|location=London|page=24|access-date=14 September 2013|archive-date=22 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922121241/https://plan-uk.org/resources/documents/Breaking-Vows-Early-and-Forced-Marriage-and-Girls-Education|url-status=dead}}</ref> In an effort to combat the widespread belief among poor, rural, and indigenous communities that child marriage is a route out of poverty, some NGOs are working with communities in Latin America to shift norms and create safe spaces for adolescent girls.<ref name="blogs.cfr.org" />

In Guatemala, early marriage is most common among indigenous Mayan communities.<ref>{{cite web |title=What's Next in the Fight to End Child Marriage in Guatemala? |url=https://riseuptogether.org/whats-next-in-the-fight-to-end-child-marriage-in-guatemala/#:~:text=According%20to%20Unicef%2C%2030%20percent,boys%20and%2014%20for%20girls |website=Rise Up |access-date=23 May 2022 |date=10 October 2017}}</ref> In southeastern Colombia, historically the indigenous [[Paez people|Nasa]] sometimes married at early ages to dissuade colonizers from coercively taking girls.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Llano Quintero|first=Alejandra|title=HemBRujaS: Muchas voces de una lucha en la que faltan hombres|publisher=Planeta|year=2019|isbn=9789584283924|editor-last=Palacios|editor-first=Claudia|location=Bogotá|page=507|chapter=Feminismo indígena es volver al origen de nuestra cultura – entrevista por Claudia Palacios}}</ref> In 2024, Colombia's congress voted to change the minimum age from 14 (with parental consent) to 18.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Alvarado |first1=Abel |last2=Torres |first2=Mauricio |date=2024-11-15 |title='They're girls, not wives': Colombia votes to outlaw child marriage |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/14/americas/colombia-child-marriage-law-intl-latam/index.html |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

In 2023, 300,000 girls under the age of 18 were sold into marriage in the Mexican state of [[Guerrero]] alone.<ref name="auto6">{{cite web | url=https://www.newsendip.com/mexico-senate-reform-end-child-marriages/ | title=Mexican Senate approves constitutional reform to end child marriages | date=15 February 2024 }}</ref> In 2024, the Mexican Senate voted unanimously to abolish the practices of child marriage in indigenous communities in Mexico, considering children's rights to be more important than tradition and customs.<ref name="auto6"/>