The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has recommended the prohibition and annulment of these marriages, which violate the dignity of women, and calls for safeguards and guarantees to protect the rights of women and girls living in such families. Invalidating an early marriage protects the minor spouses by restoring their single status so that they are deemed never to have been married, rather than divorced, and by cancelling all financial or property transactions linked to the marriage.