Editing Child marriage (section)

==Causes==
According to the [[United Nations Population Fund]], factors that promote and reinforce child marriage include poverty and economic survival strategies; [[gender inequality]]; sealing land or property deals or settling disputes; control over sexuality and protecting family honor; tradition and culture; and insecurity, particularly during war, famine or epidemics.<ref name="too young">{{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]]}}</ref> Other factors include family ties in which marriage is a means of consolidating powerful relations between families.<ref name="too young"/>

===Dowry and bride price===
[[File:Thai Bride Price 2008.jpg|thumb|left|A traditional, formal presentation of the bride price at a Thai engagement ceremony]]
Providing a girl with a [[dowry]] at her marriage is an ancient practice that continues in some parts of the world, especially in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. Parents bestow property on the marriage of a daughter as a dowry, which is often an economic challenge for many families. The difficulty in saving for dowry was common, particularly in times of economic hardship, or persecution, or unpredictable seizure of property and savings. These difficulties pressed families to betroth their girls, irrespective of their age, as soon as they had the resources to pay the dowry. Thus, Goitein notes that European Jews would marry their girls early, once they had collected the expected amount of dowry.<ref name=goitein78>S.D. Goitein (1978), A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World, Vol. 3, University of California Press</ref>

A [[bride price]] is the amount paid by the groom to the parents of a bride for them to consent to him marrying their daughter. In some countries, the younger the bride, the higher the bride price.<ref>{{cite news | last = Bearak | first = Barry | title = The bride price | work = [[The New York Times]] | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/magazine/09BRI.html | date = 9 July 2006 }}</ref><ref name="nourreport" /> This practice can create an economic incentive where girls are sought and married early by her family to the highest bidder. Child marriages of girls can function as a way out of desperate economic conditions or simply as a source of income for the parents.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Tremayne | first = Soraya | title = Modernity and early marriage in Iran: a view from within | journal = [[Journal of Middle East Women's Studies]] | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | pages = 65–94 | doi = 10.1215/15525864-2006-1003 | jstor = 40326888 | date = Winter 2006 | s2cid = 54509784 | url = https://muse.jhu.edu/article/194426 }} [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_middle_east_womens_studies/v002/2.1tremayne.pdf Pdf.]</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Boyden | first1 = Jo | last2 = Pankhurst | first2 = Alula | last3 = Tafere | first3 = Yisak | title = Child protection and harmful traditional practices: female early marriage and genital modification in Ethiopia | journal = Development in Practice| volume = 22 | issue = 4 | pages = 510–522 | doi = 10.1080/09614524.2012.672957 | date = June 2012 | s2cid = 144583426 | url = https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:ad065460-bef4-4578-8fd4-b22d62ac599e }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last = Chowdhury | first = F.D. | title = The socio-cultural context of child marriage in a Bangladeshi village | journal = [[International Journal of Social Welfare]] | volume = 13 | issue = 3 | pages = 244–253 | doi = 10.1111/j.1369-6866.2004.00318.x | date = July 2004 }}</ref> Bride price is another cause of child marriage and [[child trafficking]].<ref name=icrwchild/><ref name=africachild>{{cite web|url=http://www.forwarduk.org.uk/key-issues/child-marriage |title=Eradicating child marriage in Africa |publisher=FORWARD UK |access-date= 2015-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last = Warner | first = Elizabeth | title = Behind the wedding veil: Child marriage as a form of trafficking in girls | journal = Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law | volume = 12 | issue = 2 | pages = 233–247 |year = 2004 | url = http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/jgspl/vol12/iss2/1/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/401-420/tandi415.html |title=The trafficking of children in the Asia–Pacific |publisher=Aic.gov.au |access-date=2015-02-18 |archive-date=27 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027094118/http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/401-420/tandi415.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Bride kidnapping===
[[File:RaidbyKURDS.jpg|thumb|Depiction of [[bride kidnapping]]]]
{{Main|Bride kidnapping}}
[[Bride kidnapping]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/bridenapping-ndash-a-growing-hidden-crime-2367811.html|title='Bridenapping': a growing hidden crime|date=9 October 2011|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2019-08-26}}</ref> also known as marriage by abduction or marriage by capture, is a practice in which a male abducts<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/out-of-eden-walk/articles/2017-06-captured-hearts/|title=Captured Hearts|website=nationalgeographic.org|access-date=2019-08-26}}</ref> the female he wishes to marry. Bride kidnapping has been practiced around the world and throughout history. It continues to occur in countries in [[Central Asia]], the [[Caucasus]] region, parts of [[Africa]], among people as diverse as the [[Hmong people|Hmong]] in Southeast Asia, the [[Tzeltal people|Tzeltal]] in Mexico, and the [[Romani people|Romani]] in Europe.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} Bride kidnapping is a widespread issue in Ethiopia. A 2003 study found the custom's prevalence rate was estimated at 69 percent nationally, <ref>{{cite web|url=http://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/unicef-supports-fight-end-marriage-abduction-ethiopia|title=UNICEF supports fight to end marriage by abduction in Ethiopia|publisher=reliefweb.int|date=9 November 2004|access-date=29 August 2013}}</ref> with reports of girls as young as 11 being taken for marriage.<ref name="et1">{{Cite web |date=February 23, 2007 |title=Ethiopia: Surviving forced marriage |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2007/02/23/ethiopia-surviving-forced-marriage |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New Humanitarian}}</ref> In response, Ethiopia has enacted laws to outlaw this practice and established a minimum marriage age of 18.<ref name="et2">{{Cite web |last=Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information |first=Bureau of Public Affairs |date=2008-03-11 |title=Ethiopia |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100481.htm |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=2001-2009.state.gov |language=en}}</ref> However, the effectiveness of these measures in reducing bride kidnapping remains unclear.<ref name="et1" /><ref name="et2" />

In most nations, bride kidnapping is considered a crime rather than a valid [[types of marriages|form of marriage]]. Some types of it may also be seen as falling along the continuum between [[forced marriage]] and [[arranged marriage]]. However, even when the practice is against the law, judicial enforcement remains lax in some areas. Bride kidnapping occurs in various parts of the world, but it is most common in the Caucasus and Central Asia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-37256574|title=Police swoop on fake 'bride kidnapping'|date=2 September 2016|access-date=2019-08-26|language=en-GB}}</ref> Bride kidnapping is often a form of child marriage.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kyrgyzstan-women-bride-kidnapping-idUSKBN1AH5GI|title=One in five girls and women kidnapped for marriage in Kyrgyzstan:...|date=1 August 2017|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-08-26|language=en}}
</ref> It may be connected to the practice of bride price, and the inability or unwillingness to pay it.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/30/world/asia/abduction-often-violent-a-kyrgyz-wedding-rite.html|title=Abduction, Often Violent, a Kyrgyz Wedding Rite|last=Smith|first=Craig S.|date=30 April 2005|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-08-26|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
</ref>

===Persecution, forced migration, and slavery===
Social upheavals such as wars, major military campaigns, [[forced religious conversion]], taking natives as [[prisoners of war]] and converting them into slaves, arrest and [[forced migration]]s of people often made a suitable groom a rare commodity. Bride's families would seek out any available bachelors and marry them to their daughters before events beyond their control moved the boy away. Persecution and displacement of [[Romani people|Roma]] and [[Jews|Jewish]] people in Europe, colonial campaigns to get slaves from various ethnic groups in West Africa across the Atlantic for [[Plantation (settlement or colony)|plantations]], and Islamic campaigns to get Hindu slaves from India across Afghanistan's [[Hindu Kush]] as property and for work were some of the historical events that increased the practice of child marriage before the 19th century.<ref name=goitein78/><ref>Andre Wink (1997), Al-Hind: the Making of the Indo-Islamic World, vol. 2, The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest, 11th–13th Centuries (Leiden)</ref><ref>Assaf Likhovski (2006), Law and Identity in Mandate Palestine, {{ISBN|978-0-8078-3017-8}}; University of North Carolina Press, pages 93–103</ref>

Among [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardi Jewish]] communities, child marriages became frequent from the 10th to 13th centuries, especially in Muslim Spain.<ref name=Lieberman/> This practice intensified after the Jewish community was expelled from Spain, and resettled in the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Child marriages among the Eastern [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic Jews]] continued through the 18th century in Islamic majority regions.<ref name=Lieberman>Julia Rebollo Lieberman (2011), Sephardi Family Life in the Early Modern Diaspora, pages 8–10; Brandeis University Press; {{ISBN|978-1-58465-957-0}}</ref><ref>Ruth Lamdan, Child Marriages in Jewish Society in Eastern Mediterranean during the 16th Century, Mediterranean Historical Review, 2 (June 1996); Vol 11, pages 37–59</ref><ref>Joseph Hacker, in Moreshet Sheparad: The Sephardi Legacy, Vol 2, (Editor: Haim Beinart), Magnes Press, 1992; pages 109–133</ref>

===Fear, poverty, social pressures, and a sense of protection===
[[File:Dame (Alice) Ellen Terry ('Choosing') by George Frederic Watts.jpg|thumb|English stage actress [[Ellen Terry]] was married at age 16 to 46-year-old [[George Frederic Watts]], a marriage her parents thought would be advantageous; later she said she was uncomfortable being a child bride. Terry died at the age of 81, in 1928.]]

A sense of social insecurity is a cause of child marriages across the world. For example, in Nepal, parents fear [[social stigma]] if adult daughters (past 18 years) stay at home. Others fear crimes such as rape, which not only would be traumatic but may lead to less acceptance of the girl if she becomes a victim of such a crime.<ref>Thapa, S. (1996). ITS PREVALENCE AND CORRELATES. Contributions to Nepalese Studies, 23(2), pages 361–375</ref> For example, girls may not be seen as eligible for marriage if they are not virgins.<ref name=":1" /> In other cultures, the fear is that an unmarried girl may engage in illicit relationships,<ref name=saudi2009>{{cite web|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-04-30-saudi-arabia_N.htm|title=8-year-old Saudi girl divorces 50-year-old husband |work=[[USA Today]]}}</ref> or elope, causing a permanent social blemish to her siblings, or that the impoverished family may be unable to find bachelors for grown-up girls in their socioeconomic group. Such fears and social pressures have been proposed as causes that lead to child marriages. Insofar as child marriage is a social norm in practicing communities, the elimination of child marriage must come through a changing of those social norms. The mindset of the communities, and what is believed to be the proper outcome for a child bride, must be shifted to bring about a change in the prevalence of child marriage.<ref>[[Cristina Bicchieri|Bicchieri C]], Lindemans, Jiang. A social norms perspective on child marriage: The general framework. UNICEF, 2014</ref>

Families in extreme poverty may perceive daughters as an economic burden.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/gwi/rls/rem/2010/144989.htm|title=Targeting Girls in the Name of Tradition: Child Marriage|work=U.S. Department of State}}</ref> If they cannot afford to raise a child, seeking a [[Child marriage in the United States|child marriage]] for a girl can be seen as a way of ensuring her economic security and thus benefiting her as well as her parents.<ref name="Nour child marriage"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zia |first=Asad |date=2013-01-01 |title=42% of underage married girls from Pakistan |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/487659/child-marriages-42-of-underage-married-girls-from-pakistan |access-date=2023-10-05 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|title = International Law as an Instrument to Combat Child Marriage|last = Gaffney-Rhys|first = Ruth|year = 2011|journal = The International Journal of Human Rights|doi = 10.1080/13642980903315398|volume=15|issue = 3|pages=359–373|s2cid = 143307822}}</ref> In reviews of Jewish community history, scholars<ref>Lamdān, R. (2000). A Separate People: Jewish Women in Palestine, Syria, and Egypt in the Sixteenth Century (Vol. 26). Brill; see pages 28–31</ref><ref>A. Grossman, 'Child marriage in Jewish society in the Middle Ages until the thirteenth century' (in Hebrew), Peamim 45 (1990), 108–126</ref><ref>Abrahams, Israel (2005). Jewish life in the Middle Ages. Routledge; see pages 183–189</ref> claim poverty, shortage of grooms, and uncertain social and economic conditions were a cause of frequent child marriages.

[[File:Drawings by young Syrian refugee girls in a community centre in southern Lebanon promote the prevention of child marriage. (14496389777).jpg|left|thumb|Drawings by young Syrian refugee girls in a community center in southern [[Lebanon]] promote the prevention of child marriage.]]
An additional factor causing child marriage is the parental belief that early marriage offers protection. Parents feel that marriage provides their daughter with a sense of protection from sexual promiscuity and safe from sexually transmitted infections.<ref name="Nour child marriage">{{cite journal|last1=Nour|first1=NM|title=Child Marriage: a silent health and human rights issue|journal=Reviews in Obstetrics and Gynecology|year=2009|volume=2|issue=1|pages=51–56|pmid=19399295|pmc=2672998}}</ref><ref name="nourreport"/> However, in reality, young girls tend to marry older men, placing them at an increased risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection.

Protection through marriage may play a specific role in conflict settings. Families may have their young daughters marry members of an armed group or military in hopes that they will be better protected. Girls may also be taken by armed groups and forced into marriages.<ref name=":4" />

In many communities, there is social pressure to marry off girls at a young age. This practice is often justified by cultural norms and the belief that it provides social and economic stability.

===Climate disasters===
In 2023, a study led by Ohio State researchers, Fiona Doherty, Smitha Rao, and Angelise Radney found that the increase in environmental disasters tied to climate change were contributing factor to a rise in child marriage in at least 20 countries.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-02 |title=Cambio climático: por qué las inundaciones y el clima extremo están causando un aumento de matrimonios infantiles forzados en el mundo |url=https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/cx7j247lg40o |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=BBC News Mundo |language=es}}</ref>

===Religion, culture and civil law===
Although the general marriageable age is 18 in the majority of countries, most jurisdictions allow for exceptions for underage youth with parental and/or judicial consent.<ref name="too young"/> Such laws are neither limited to developing countries, nor a state's religion. In some countries, a religious marriage by itself has legal validity, while in others it does not, as [[civil marriage]] is obligatory. For Catholics incorporated into the [[Latin Church]], the [[1983 Code of Canon Law]] sets the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.<ref name="CIC1983"/>{{rp|at=[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P3Y.HTM c. 1083 §1]}}{{efn|name=CIC}} In 2015, Spain raised its minimum marriageable age to 18 (16 with court consent) from the previous 14.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://time.com/3970710/spain-marriage-age-of-consent-europe/|title=Spain marriage age of consent Europe|publisher=time-com|date=24 July 2015}}</ref> In Mexico, marriage under 18 is allowed with parental consent, from age 14 for girls and age 16 for boys.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://embamex.sre.gob.mx/canada_eng/index.php/marriage-in-mexico |title=Marriage requirements in Mexico |publisher=Embamex.sre.gob.mx |access-date=2015-02-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218215805/http://embamex.sre.gob.mx/canada_eng/index.php/marriage-in-mexico |archive-date=2015-02-18 }}</ref> In Ukraine, in 2012, the Family Code was amended to equalize the marriageable age for girls and boys to 18, with courts being allowed to grant permission to marry from 16 years of age if it is established that the marriage is in the best interest of the youth.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Child Marriage in Ukraine (Summary) |url=https://eeca.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/unfpa%20ukraine%20summary.pdf |access-date=October 1, 2023 |website=UNFPA}}</ref>

Many states in the US permit child marriages [[Marriageable age#Americas|with the court's permission]]. Since 2015, the minimum marriageable age throughout Canada is 16. In Canada, the [[age of majority]] is set by province/territory at 18 or 19, so minors under this age have additional restrictions (i.e. parental and court consent). Under the Criminal Code, Art. 293.2 Marriage under the age of 16 years reads: "Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is under the age of 16 years is guilty of an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years."<ref name="laws-lois.justice.gc.ca">{{cite web|url=http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-160.html#docCont|title=Consolidated federal laws of Canada, Criminal Code|publisher=Legislative Services Branch|website=laws-lois.justice.gc.ca|access-date=2018-03-03}}</ref> The Civil Marriage Act also states: "2.2 No person who is under the age of 16 years may contract marriage."<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-31.5/page-1.html|title=Consolidated federal laws of Canada, Civil Marriage Act|publisher=Legislative Services Branch|website=laws-lois.justice.gc.ca|access-date=2018-03-03|date=18 June 2015}}</ref> In the UK, marriage is allowed for 16–17 years old with parental consent in [[England and Wales]] as well as in [[Northern Ireland]], and even without parental consent in [[Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships/overview |title=Marriages and civil partnerships in the UK |publisher=GOV.UK |date=16 December 2014 |access-date=2015-02-18}}</ref> However, a marriage of a person under 16 is [[void marriage|void]] under the [[Matrimonial Causes Act 1973]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/18 |title=Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 |publisher=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=2015-02-18}}</ref> The [[United Nations Population Fund]] stated the following:<ref name="too young"/>

{{blockquote|In 2010, 158 countries reported that 18 years was the minimum legal age for marriage for women without parental consent or approval by a pertinent authority. However, in 146 countries, state or customary law allows girls younger than 18 to marry with the consent of parents or other authorities; in 52 countries, girls under age 15 can marry with parental consent. In contrast, 18 is the legal age for marriage without consent among males in 180 countries. Additionally, in 105 countries, boys can marry with the consent of a parent or a pertinent authority, and in 23 countries, boys under age 15 can marry with parental consent.}}

A lower legally allowed marriage age does not necessarily cause high rates of child marriages. However, there is a correlation between restrictions placed by laws and the average age of first marriage. In the United States, per [[1960 United States census|1960 census]] data, 3.5% of girls married before the age of 16, while an additional 11.9% married between 16 and 18. States with lower marriage age limits saw higher percentages of child marriages.<ref name=ncbi/> This correlation between the higher age of marriage in civil law and the observed frequency of child marriages breaks down in countries with Islam as the state religion. In Islamic nations, many countries do not allow child marriage of girls under their civil code of laws, but the state-recognized Sharia religious laws and courts in all these nations have the power to override the civil code, and often do. [[UNICEF]] reports that the top eight nations in the world with the highest observed child marriage rates are Niger (75%), Chad (72%), Mali (71%), Bangladesh (64%), Guinea (63%), Central African Republic (61%), Mozambique (56%), and Nepal (51%).<ref name=unicef12a>{{cite web|url=http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09-CountryExample-Mali.pdf|title=Child Marriage is a Death Sentence for Many Young Girls|publisher=UNICEF|year=2012|access-date=11 August 2013|archive-date=13 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113035429/https://www.unicef.org/sowc09/docs/SOWC09-CountryExample-Mali.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Marriageable age in religious sources===
====Judaism====
Ancient [[Rabbi]]s set the age of marriage for every [[Israelite]] at 18 years old; males are expected to be married by 20 years old in [[teenage marriage]] and females can stay unmarried but must be celibate.<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10435-marriage-laws|title=MARRIAGE LAWS |website=jewishencyclopedia.com|access-date=2020-06-10}}</ref>

In [[Rabbinic Judaism]], males cannot consent to marriage until they reach the age of 13 years and a day and have undergone puberty. They are considered [[Minor (law)|minors]] until the age of twenty. The same rules apply to females, except their age is 12 years and a day. If females show no signs of puberty and males show no signs of puberty or do show impotence, they automatically become adults by age 35 and can marry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10861-minority|title=MAJORITY |website=Jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10888-mi-un|title=MI'UN |website=Jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref>

A large age gap between spouses, in either direction, is advised against as unwise.<ref>''[[Yebamot]]'' 44a</ref> A younger woman marrying a significantly older man however is especially problematic: marrying one's young daughter to an old man was declared as reprehensible as forcing her into prostitution.<ref name="Sanhedrin 76a.23-25"/>

A ''ketannah'' (literally meaning "little [one]") was any girl between the age of 3 years and 12 years plus one day;<ref name="JewEncMaj">{{Jewish Encyclopedia |article=Majority |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=M&artid=91}}</ref> she was subject to her father's authority, and he could arrange a marriage for her without her agreement.<ref name="JewEncMaj" /> However, after reaching the age of maturity, she would have to agree to the marriage to be considered married.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/legal-religious-status-of-married-woman |title=CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR LEGAL MARRIAGE |author=Tirzah Meacham |access-date=2020-06-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10435-marriage-laws |title=MARRIAGE LAWS |author1=Solomon Schechter |author2=Julius H. Greenstone |access-date=2020-06-10}}</ref>

====Christianity====
The minimum ages of consent for marriage in the Catholic Church are 14 for girls and 16 for boys. Being underage constitutes a [[diriment impediment]]. That is, a marriage involving an underage bride or groom is canonically invalid. A [[Conference of Bishops]] may adopt a higher age for marriage, but in that case, the higher age only creates a prohibitive impediment, that is, a marriage involving a bride or groom above the Church's minimum age but below that set by the Conference is ''[[valid but illicit]]''. Permission to marry against a civil authority's directive requires the permission of the [[Ordinary (Catholic Church)|Ordinary]], which, in the case of sensible and equal laws regarding marriage age, is not usually granted. The permission by the Ordinary is also required in case of a marriage of a minor when their parents are unaware of his marriage or if their parents reasonably oppose the marriage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann998-1165_en.html#CHAPTER%20III |title=Code of Canon Law – IntraText |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=2021-01-20}}</ref>

====Islam====
In classical [[Sharia|Islamic law]], suitability for marital relations is conditional on physical maturity (''bulugh'') and mental maturity (''rushd''). Classical jurists did not stipulate a minimum marriageable age because they did not believe that maturity is reached by everyone at a specific age.<ref name="Watt">{{harvnb|Watt|1960}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Spellberg|1996|p=40}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="Nour child marriage"/><ref>{{harvnb|Barlas|2002|pp=125–126}}</ref> Büchler and Schlater observe that "marriageable age according to classical Islamic law coincides with the occurrence of puberty. The notion of puberty refers to signs of physical maturity such as the emission of semen or the onset of menstruation". Traditional schools of Islamic jurisprudence ([[madhaahib]]) define the age of full legal capacity to enter marriage as follows:<ref name=buchler-schlater>{{cite journal |url=http://www.zora.uzh.ch/78204/1/Beitrag_Buechler_Schlatter_final.pdf |title=Marriage Age in Islamic and Contemporary Muslim Family Laws: A Comparative Survey |last1=Büchler |first1=Andrea |last2=Schlatter |first2=Christina |journal=Electronic Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law |volume=1 |issn=1664-5707 |year=2013 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" 60%;
|-
! !! Male age !! Female age !! Notes
|-
| [[Shafi'i]]||align=center|15||align=center|15||
|-
| [[Hanbali]]||align=center|15||align=center|15||
|-
| [[Maliki]]||align=center|17||align=center|17||
|-
| [[Hanafi]]||align=center|12–18||align=center|9–17||Marriageable age is whenever the person reaches puberty, which may vary from person to person. Listed ages are when Hanafis presume puberty occurs in males and females.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.zora.uzh.ch/78204/1/Beitrag_Buechler_Schlatter_final.pdf |title=Marriage Age in Islamic and Contemporary Muslim Family Laws: A Comparative Survey |last1=Büchler |first1=Andrea |last2=Schlatter |first2=Christina |journal=Electronic Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law |volume=1 |issn=1664-5707 |year=2013|quote=Marriageable age according to classical Islamic law coincides with the occurrence of puberty. The notion of puberty refers to signs of physical maturity such as the emission of semen or the onset of menstruation. In the absence of such signs, the Hanafi school assumes that puberty will occur no later than at eighteen years for males and seventeen years for females}}</ref>
|-
| [[Ja'fari jurisprudence|Jafari]]||align=center|15||align=center|9||[[Shia]]
|}

According to Büchler and Schlater, while marriageable age is not the same as the legal majority under civil law, these age limits may correspond.<ref name=buchler-schlater/>

The 1917 codification of Islamic family law in the [[Ottoman Empire]] distinguished between the age of competence for marriage, which was set at 18 for boys and 17 for girls, and the minimum age for marriage, which followed the traditional Hanafi ages of the legal majority of 12 for boys and 9 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence was permissible only if proof of sexual maturity was accepted in court, while marriage under the minimum age was forbidden. During the 20th century, most countries in the Middle East followed the Ottoman precedent in defining the age of competence, while raising the minimum age to 15 or 16 for boys and 13–16 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence is subject to approval by a judge and the legal guardian of the adolescent. Egypt diverged from this pattern by setting the age limits of 18 for boys and 16 for girls, without a distinction between competence for marriage and minimum age.<ref name=EI2-8-29>{{Cite encyclopedia|author1=Schacht, J.|author2= Layish, A.|author3= Shaham, R.|author4= Ansari, Ghaus|author5= Otto, J.M.|author6= Pompe, S.|author7= Knappert, J. |author8=Boyd, Jean| year=1995 | title=Nikāḥ|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition=2nd|publisher=Brill |editor1=P. Bearman|editor2= Th. Bianquis|editor3= C.E. Bosworth|editor4= E. van Donzel|editor5= W.P. Heinrichs|volume=8|page=29}}</ref> In 2020, Saudi Arabia officially banned all marriages under the age of 18.<ref name=":8">{{cite web|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/saudi-arabia-moves-to-ban-child-marriage-with-a-new-ruling-1.955310|title=Saudi Arabia moves to ban child marriage with a new ruling|website=The National|date=24 December 2019|language=en|access-date=2020-02-15}}</ref> The push to ban child marriage was initially opposed by senior clergy, who argued that a woman reaches adulthood at puberty.<ref name=thenational>{{cite news|title=Saudi push to end child marriages|newspaper=The National|author=Wael Mahdi|date=1 July 2009|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/saudi-push-to-end-child-marriages-1.541430}}</ref> However, by 2019 the [[Saudi Shura Council]] had outlawed marriages under the age of 15 and required court approval for those under 18.<ref name=":7">{{cite web|url=https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1540156/saudi-arabia-introduces-new-regulations-early-marriage|title=Saudi Arabia Introduces New Regulations for Early Marriage|last=Al Khataf|first=Iman|website=Asharq Al-aswat}}</ref>

===Politics and financial relationships===
[[File:Lodewijk XIV-Marriage.jpg|thumb|Child marriage in 1697 of [[Marie Adélaïde of Savoy]], age 12 to Louis, heir apparent of France age 15. The marriage created a political alliance.]]
Child marriages may depend upon socio-economic status. The aristocracy in some cultures, as in the European [[feudal]] era tended to use child marriage as a method to secure political ties. Families were able to cement political and/or financial ties by having their children marry.<ref>Shulamith Shaha (1983), ''The Fourth Estate: A History of Women in the Middle Ages'', {{ISBN|0-415-30851-8}}, Routledge, pages 131–149</ref> The betrothal is considered a binding contract between the families and the children. The breaking of a betrothal can have serious consequences both for the families and for the betrothed individuals themselves.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}