A/RES/79/158 Child, early and forced marriage administrative burden, protecting those at risk and addressing the needs of those affected, and work towards the coherence of these laws and policies at the local level, to ensure that marriage is entered into only with the informed, free and full consent of the intending spouses, and further urges States to recognize child, early and forced marriage as a violation or abuse of human rights; 6. Calls upon States to enact, enforce and uphold laws concerning a minimum age of marriage, to monitor their application and to progressively amend laws with lower minimum ages of marriage and/or ages of majority to 18 and engage all relevant authorities to ensure that these laws are well known and fully implemented; 7. Urges States to repeal or amend laws and remove any provisions that enable perpetrators of rape, sexual exploitation and abuse or abduction to escape prosecution and punishment by marrying their victims and that may enable, justify, or lead to child, early and forced marriage, and to engage traditional and religious leaders, among others, to eliminate traditional practices that resolve sexual violence incidents through marriage; 8. Calls upon States to strengthen their efforts to ensure the timely registration of births and marriages, especially for individuals living in rural and remote areas, including by identifying and removing all physical, administrative, procedural and any other barriers that impede access to registration and by providing, where lacking, mechanisms for the registration of customary and religious marriages, as well as working to ensure that the registration of births and marriages remains accessible in emergencies or is re-established as quickly as possible when affected; 9. Also calls upon States to promote the full and meaningful participation of and active consultation with children and adolescents, including those who are hardest to reach and already married girls, girls who are divorced, separated or widowed in the context of child, early and forced marriage, and girls who are pregnant or mothers, on all issues affecting them, and to raise awareness about their rights, including the negative impact of child, early and forced marriage, through safe spaces, forums and support networks, including in digital spaces, that provide accessible information, life skills, inclusive and equitable quality education, and leadership skills training and opportunities, including catch-up and literacy education, and lifelong learning opportunities, remote learning opportunities and childcare, as needed, to be empowered, to express themselves, to participate meaningfully in all decisions that affect them and to become agents of change within their communities; 10. Further calls upon States to promote awareness-raising about the harmful effects of child, early and forced marriage on the individual and wider society and the benefits of ending this harmful practice, including through open dialogue with all stakeholders, including girls and boys, women and men, religious, traditional and community leaders, parents, legal guardians and other family members, to work with local communities to combat negative social norms and gender stereotypes that condone child, early and forced marriage, to empower parents and communities to abandon the practice and to empower all women and girls to make informed decisions about their lives; 11. Recognizes that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment and in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding and that parents or, as the case may be, legal guardians have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child, acknowledging the need to support their capacity to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage, and reaffirming that the best interests of the child will be their basic concern; 8/15 24-24151