Feminism: chat
Sajid Javid calling for legal age of marriage to rise to 18
ArabellaScott · 16/06/2021 11:28
On GB news at 10.
(England and Wales only.)
Interesting, though - my initial thought is that this is sensible. What are the benefits of marrying at 16 - are there any?
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9677273/Sajid-Javid-seeks-raise-minimum-age-marriage-18.html
ArabellaScott · 16/06/2021 11:28
ArabellaScott · 16/06/2021 11:30
From the DM article:
'He said: 'The British Government is working tirelessly to end child marriage in the developing world and yet our own laws are permitting child marriage by the back door.
'Indeed, when Bangladesh lowered the legal age of marriage from 18 to 16, ministers there were said to have directly pointed to our laws to justify their move.
'It's clear that we must legislate to close this loophole so that vulnerable children cannot be pushed into such serious and life-changing commitments before they are ready.'
Mr Javid, who is of Pakistani heritage, said he had looked into changing the law when he was home secretary in Theresa May's government having seen examples of the practice in his own community.
Mr Javid previously called forced marriage 'despicable' (stock image) and called abusers 'determined and clever'
'I've seen this myself in the community I was raised in, young girls expected to enter into marriage far before they were ready to, with painful consequences,' he said.
'Let's call this what it is: child abuse.'
He previously described forced marriage as a "despicable, inhumane, uncivilised practice". '
MaloInAnAppleTree · 16/06/2021 11:46
16 “with parents’ consent” was meant to protect young girls from being pressured into marriage by unsuitable men, but of course it’s less than useless when it comes to pressure from your parents to marry.
I agree that it would be a positive act, as well as free, simple to implement and popular so will probably actually happen. Politically useful to have Javid fronting it.
LolaSmiles · 16/06/2021 13:58
ODFOx
Maybe not in the UK, but it sends a message to the world that children should not be married, and by children mainly girls often to older men.
Two consenting teenagers having sex is not the same as entering into a legally binding contract with anotherperson, especially when parental pressure is added. Most people don't marry the person they slept with at 16/17. Teens should be free to explore their sexuality without teen sexuality being used to justify marrying children off usually to an older spouse.
FijiCavanaugh · 16/06/2021 14:26
@ODFOx
Seems a bit harsh, and unlikely to protect anyone in the position of being forced into a religious marriage at 16.
It makes perfect sense when you think of marriage as a legal contract with significant financial and family law implications. You can't get a loan or credit card under 18 but you can enter a lifelong fiduciary agreement.
PrawnofthePatriarchy · 16/06/2021 14:52
Sounds entirely reasonable. I can't think of any good reason for people to marry at 16.
Many years ago I was in a pub when a small party arrived fresh from the register office - 16 year old bride, 30ish groom and parents. She was strikingly shabbily dressed, visibly pregnant and looked utterly miserable.
Everyone got drunk (apart from the bride) and the groom - right in front of his bride - tried energetically to get me to have sex with him.
It was wretched and the only purpose of the wedding was legitimising the baby. It was blatantly obvious the marriage wasn't going to last five minutes. I felt so sorry for the poor kid.
ArabellaScott · 16/06/2021 16:44
Yes, 16 or over is the only criteria mentioned here:
You can get married in Scotland if you're:
aged 16 or over
in an opposite sex or same sex relationship
not married or in a civil partnership with someone else
not closely related (see below for a list of relations you cannot marry)
capable of understanding what marriage means and of consenting to marriage
www.mygov.scot/getting-married
cheugy · 16/06/2021 16:59
Agree 100% with this. UK should also limit the age of consent for young people (e.g. 16-18 year olds can only consent to 16-18 year olds) and end child soldiers (16 year olds being able to sign up).
It’s easy for 16 year olds to be manipulated and the UK not protecting them is shameful.
DdraigGoch · 16/06/2021 17:38
@PrawnofthePatriarchy
Many years ago I was in a pub when a small party arrived fresh from the register office - 16 year old bride, 30ish groom and parents. She was strikingly shabbily dressed, visibly pregnant and looked utterly miserable.
Everyone got drunk (apart from the bride) and the groom - right in front of his bride - tried energetically to get me to have sex with him.
It was wretched and the only purpose of the wedding was legitimising the baby. It was blatantly obvious the marriage wasn't going to last five minutes. I felt so sorry for the poor kid.
Poor kid.
StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind · 16/06/2021 19:24
@spongedog
Out of interest @spongedog what would you raise the age to? I've never really considered this tbh.
I agree that raising the age to 18 for marriage is a good idea- as a pp said anything that stops the abuse of girls is a good thing. The thought of a 16 yr old getting married is ridiculous.
ArabellaScott · 16/06/2021 19:26
@cheugy
It’s easy for 16 year olds to be manipulated and the UK not protecting them is shameful.
Yes, the UK is embarrassingly out of step with other countries on this. We like to send our children to war.
Ilovemaisie · 16/06/2021 19:59
We don't send children to war. They have to be 18. Joining the armed forces at 16 is just training and a lot of the time is apparently spent on basic Maths and English because so many have been let down by the education system.
The driving age should be lowered to 16 if the government is going to carry on with this education or training until you are 18. I know of so many 16 year olds that after GCSEs get a place on a college course they want to do or get a chance for an apprenticeship...but have to turn it down because there is no way for them to get there as public transport is either crap or non existent.
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.