Bulgaria has committed to ending child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Bulgarian government submitted a 2020 Voluntary National Review for the High Level Political Forum but it did not mention child marriage. The government has not submitted a Voluntary National Review in any High Level Political Forum since 2020.
Bulgaria co-sponsored the following Human Rights Council resolutions: the 2013 procedural resolution on child, early and forced marriage, the 2015 resolution on child, early and forced marriage, the 2017 resolution on 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. In 2014, Bulgaria also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.
Bulgaria co-sponsored the 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.
Bulgaria ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, 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 1982, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.
In 2020, the CEDAW Committee expressed concerns about the persistence of child and forced marriages, despite legislation prohibiting marriage under the age of 16, in particular affecting Roma girls. The Committee urged Bulgaria to:
● Prevent and eradicate child and forced marriage through coordinated action by competent authorities, non-governmental organisations, and the Roma community.
● Strengthen awareness raising campaigns.
● Establish mechanisms to detect cases of child and forced marriages.
● Ensure all cases of child and forced marriage are investigated and those responsible are prosecuted.
In 2019, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Dubravka Šimonović, highlighted that child marriage is a persistent practice in the country and very rarely leads to criminal proceedings.
During its 2024 review, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the government improve the collection, quality and analysis of data on child marriage and violence against children among other children’s rights violations. The Committee recommended that the government strengthen measures to prevent child marriage, particularly within the Roma community.
During its 2016 review, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Bulgaria establish a system to track all cases of child marriage within ethnic groups, particularly among Roma girls, and to provide survivors with shelter and rehabilitation.
During its 2015 Universal Periodic Review, Bulgaria agreed to examine recommendations to eliminate all forms of child marriage and raise the minimum age of marriage to 18.
At the London Girl Summit in July 2014, the government signed a charter committing to end child marriage by 2020.