Denmark

0.7% of girls in Denmark marry before age 18. The estimate excludes any women who were in a cohabiting relationship before age 16, or in a cohabiting relationship with a man 15+ years their senior.

Child marriage is driven by gender inequality and the belief that women and girls are somehow inferior to men and boys.

There is limited information on child marriage in Denmark.

Denmark 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. In this review, the Danish government highlighted their international efforts and humanitarian aid in eradicating child marriage. The government acknowledged that SDG 5 is the most poorly financed SDG and there is still a long way to go in achieving gender equality. In 2021, Denmark took the lead in the global initiative Call to Action, which brings together 92 partners (countries, UN agencies and civil society organisations) to combat sexual and gender-based violence, rape, assault and child marriage. The government has not submitted a Voluntary National Review in any High Level Political Forum since 2021.

Denmark 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 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.

In 2014, Denmark also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

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

Denmark 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 1983, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2015 the CEDAW Committee raised concerns that Denmark’s efforts to combat forced marriage among migrants, including requiring spouses to be at least 24 years of age during reunification cases, restricts women’s rights to family life. It urged Denmark to explore alternative options to combatting forced marriage.

Denmark has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence (known as the Istanbul Convention), which considers forced marriage a serious form of violence against women and girls, and legally binds state parties to criminalise the intentional conduct of forcing an adult or child into a marriage.

At the first London Girl Summit in July 2014, the government signed a charter committing to end child marriage by 2020.

According to the Law on Marriage Concession and Dissolution the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years. This minimum age was increased from 15 to 18 years in 2017 after a new bill was passed to protect children.

In January 2017, the Danish government approved a law prohibiting the recognition of marriages of underage asylum-seekers who were married abroad. Several human rights groups criticised the decision because it does not take children’s best interests into consideration. However, in 2021, a parliamentary appointed commission ruled that separating couples in asylum centres was illegal.