Report turns focus on shortcomings in regulation of early marriages

AMMAN — A local organisation on Monday revealed that exceptions for underage marriages in Jordan are often granted leniently, thus not reducing the number of female child marriages in the Kingdom.

The findings were revealed during a one-day event organised by the Justice Centre for Legal Aid (JCLA) and supported by the European Union.

The event witnessed the participation of women's rights activists, legal experts and officials from the religious institutes in the Kingdom as well as civil society representatives.

The legal age for marriage in Jordan is 18 for both men and women, but the law allows for several exceptions for girls aged 15 and above if a judge deems it is in their best interest.

According to the Chief Islamic Justice Department’s official statistics, there were 77,700 marriage contracts issued in 2017, of which 10,434 (an average of around 30 per day) involved marriages in which the wife was under the age of 18. In 2018, 8,000 girls under the age 18 were married in Jordan, according to official figures.

The JCLA prepared a paper that analysed the legislative and procedural regulatory framework for marriages under the age of 18, according to the organisation's director, Hadeel Abdul Aziz.

The paper aims to shed light on the extent to which the texts and procedures contained in the instructions that grant permission are observed within the scope of the exception and in accordance with the principle of the couple’s interest, Abdul Aziz said.

The Civil Status Law includes provisions that allow child marriage by giving judges the authority to allow girls at 15 years to get married if the groom is considered competent.

“The paper concluded that the provisions are not clear and do not regulate early marriage,” Abdul Aziz told The Jordan Times.

The provisions also do not include any legal consequences for individuals who violate the conditions, she added.

The JCLA paper recommended amending the provisions that grant permission to under 18 marriages and impose clearer restrictions when allowing the marriage of such couples, according to Abdul Aziz.

“The paper also recommended imposing legal punishment for violators and ensuring that all under 18 marriage requests are examined by Family Reconciliation Committee (FRC) experts to ensure that all conditions apply properly,” Abdul Aziz said.

Meanwhile, Chief Islamic Justice Department Judge Salah Shweiat explained that the COVID-19 crisis resulted in halting the examination of underage marriage requests by the FRC, according to a statement by the JCLA.

“Before the COVID-19 crisis, all requests used to be examined by the FRC in a scientific and clear manner,” Shweiat said.

Women’s rights groups pointed out that the COVID pandemic resulted in an increase in underage marriage rates by 11.8 per cent.

They attributed the increase in numbers of early marriage cases to economic hardship of many families resulting from the pandemic-induced lockdowns. These families most probably resort to marrying off their young daughters to avoid financial expenses, according to women’s rights groups.

Sociologists have told The Jordan Times in recent interviews that underage marriages may create “dangerous consequences for society and children”. 

Underage marriage has psychological, social and economic effects. It deprives children of their right to make their own decisions, their right to a social life and the right to education, sociologists warned.

For years, women’s rights activists in Jordan have been demanding an end to early marriage and have conducted dozens of activities to raise awareness about the dangers of such marriages.

One in five girls in the world are said to be married before 18, while 12 million girls marry before the age of 18 every year and over 650 million women alive today were married as children, according to the Girls not Brides website.