Servile marriage 2012, para. 63

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As with domestic violence, it is difficult to obtain accurate figures of the numbers of girls and women in servile marriage. Statistics for early marriage, however, can be used as an indication. According to UNICEF, adolescent marriages (where one or both spouses are below the age of 19 years) commonly occur in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. In those regions, most marriages take place between the ages of 15 and 18 years. UNICEF suggests that early marriages are often considered to be a way to protect girls, and even sometimes boys, from sexual predation, promiscuity and social ostracism. In some communities, parents perceive girls as wealth.
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
Document type
Special Procedures' report
Means of adoption
N.A.
Topic(s)
  • Harmful Practices
  • Violence
Person(s) affected
  • Adolescents
  • Boys
  • Girls
  • Women
Year
2012
Paragraph type
Other
Paragraph number
63