Bolivia

20% of girls in Bolivia are married or in a union before the age of 18 and 3% are married or in a union before the age of 15.

5% of boys in Bolivia are married or in a union before the age of 18.

In Bolivia, Child, Early, and Forced Marriage and Unions (CEFMU) predominantly takes the form of an informal union, in which a girl lives with a man, rather than a formal marriage.

Child, Early, and Forced Marriage and Unions (CEFMU) are driven by gender inequality and the belief that women and girls are somehow inferior to men and boys.

In Bolivia, CEFMU is exacerbated by:

● Gender norms: Women and girls in Bolivia are expected to be submissive and dedicated to the housework and childcare, while men are the ones who make decisions in the house. Entrenched unequal gender norms allow for CEFMU and early unions to be widely accepted in Bolivia. Culturally, marriage is viewed as an incentive for men to be in positions of power and leadership which creates an incentive for more boys to get married. Bolivia has one of the highest rates of child marriage of boys in the world.

● Poverty: Many girls in Bolivia enter into unions as a way to flee poverty in their homes and to spare their families the extra mouth to feed.

● Adolescent pregnancy: Bolivia has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the Americas. Recent statistics recorded by the Ministry of Health between January and July 2021, demonstrates that there were 22,221 adolescent pregnancies. Between 2015 to 2020, the adolescent birth rate in Bolivia was 71 births per 1000 girls between the ages of 15 to 19 years. Girls who become pregnant are frequently forced to marry or enter into an union, even when it is the result of sexual violence, and they are withdrawn from school to avoid bringing shame on the family.

● Sexual violence against women and girls: Data collected from the Public Prosecutor’s Office specializing in gender and crimes against children, reveal that between January and April 2021, there were 561 reported rape cases of adolescents and children in Bolivia.

● Ethnicity: According to UNICEF, CEFMU in Bolivia is more prevalent among Quechua-speaking communities, the Aymara people and Afro-descendants. As reported by Plan International and UNFPA, some men from indigenous communities in Bolivia believe that the ideal age for unions for girls starts at age 13 and 18 years for boys.

● COVID-19: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the vulnerability of children and particularly adolescent girls which has led to an increase in financial difficulties. Since the pandemic, approximately 3 million children were out of school and unemployment rose from 22% to 31% in Bolivia. Prolonged school closure and adolescent pregnancy since the pandemic is both a cause and a consequence of child marriage in Bolivia.

Bolivia has committed to ending child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The government submitted a 2021 Voluntary National Review at the High Level Political Forum but there was no mention of child marriage. The government has not submitted a Voluntary National Review in any High Level Political Forum since.

Bolivia co-sponsored the following Human Rights Council resolutions: the 2013 resolution on child, early and forced marriage, the 2015 resolution to end child, early and forced marriage, recognising that it is a violation of human rights, the 2017 Human Rights Council resolution recognising the need to address child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian contexts, the 2019 resolution on the consequences of child marriage, the 2021 resolution on child, early and forced marriage in times of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023 resolution on ending and preventing forced marriage.

Bolivia co-sponsored the 2013, 2014 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.

Bolivia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, which the Committee on the Rights of the Child has interpreted to recommend the establishment of a minimum age of marriage of 18, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1990, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

During its 2023 review, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the government remove all exceptions that allow for marriage below the age of 18 years, to prevent child marriages particularly in Indigenous and mining communities, and to conduct awareness-raising campaigns on the harmful effects of child marriage.

During its 2022 review, the CEDAW Committee raised concerns at the high rate of child marriages, particularly among girls below the age of 15 years in rural areas. It was noted that a majority of these marriages were as a result of sexual violence, forced adolescent pregnancies, family violence and poverty. The Committee recommended that the government raise the legal minimum age of marriage to 18 years for both boys and girls and raise awareness on the harmful effects of child marriage.

During its 2015 review, the CEDAW Committee raised concerns about challenges in implementing the minimum age of marriage for girls, and a lack of awareness-raising, especially in indigenous languages, about principles of equality between women and men in marriage.

During its 2019 Universal Periodic Review, Bolivia agreed to review recommendations to take measures to combat early, child and forced marriage.

Bolivia, as a member of the Organization of American States (OAS), is bound to the Inter American System of Human Rights, which recognises the right of men and women of marriageable age to marry, and calls on governments to strengthen the response to address gender-based violence and discrimination, including early, forced and child marriage and unions, from a perspective that respects evolving capacities and progressive autonomy.

Bolivia ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (known as the Belém do Pará Convention) in 1994. In 2016, the Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI) recommended State Parties to review and reform laws and practices to increase the minimum age for marriage to 18 years for women and men.

Bolivia, as a member of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), adopted the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development in 2013, which recognises the need to address the high levels of adolescent pregnancy in the region as usually associated with the forced marriage of girls. In 2016, the Montevideo Strategy for Implementation of the Regional Gender Agenda was also approved by the ECLAC countries. This Agenda encompasses commitments made by the governments on women’s rights and autonomy and gender equality in the last 40 years in the Regional Conferences of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Agenda reaffirms the right to a life free of all forms of violence, including forced marriage and cohabitation for girls and adolescents.

The Plurinational Plan for the Prevention of Pregnancies in Adolescents and Young People (Plan Plurinacional de Prevención de Embarazos en Adolescentes y Jóvenes, 2015-2020), highlights the correlation between child marriage, early unions and adolescent pregnancy. Among its objectives, the plan aims to improve young people’s sexual health through education, with a view to preventing early marriages, sexual violence and unplanned pregnancies.

Under the Family Code and Family Proceedings 2014, the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years for both girls and boys.

However, under Article 139 of the Family Code, an individual can be married at 16 years with the consent of their parents or the Children and Adolescent's Defender (Defensoría de la Niñez y Adolescencia).