Egypt

16% of girls in Egypt marry before the age of 18 and 2% marry before the age of 15.

Child marriage is particularly common in Upper Egypt, which is rural and has high levels of poverty and low levels of literacy.

A 2017 World Bank/ICRW study estimated that ending child marriage in Egypt would generate an additional USD 2,893 million approximately through gains in earnings and productivity.

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

In Egypt, child marriage is exacerbated by:

● Poverty: Girls in the poorest households are more likely to be married early. Girls in rural areas are three times more likely to marry early than those in urban areas. Girls are viewed as an economic burden but also as a source of income for families. Families gain an income through dowry and child marriage is viewed as a way of providing financial security and a better life for the girl.

● Level of education: Girls with no formal educational experience or low levels of education are more likely to marry early than girls who have completed higher education. Low accessibility of schools further prevents girls from attending full-time education, as travelling long distances exposes them to physical and sexual violence.

● Harmful practices: In Bedouin communities, such as in Sinai and Matrooh, and the Assiut and Suhag in Upper Egypt, some girls are forced to marry their paternal cousins (consanguineous marriages). If they try to delay these marriages, they are often stigmatised in their communities.

● Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C): Although the practice of FGM/C has been illegal in Egypt since 2008, it remains widespread. A combination of religious and cultural misconceptions drives families to perform FGM/C on their daughters before marriage. 92% of ever-married women aged 15-49 in Egypt have experienced FGM/C, demonstrating ongoing attempts to control female sexuality and choice. FGM/C is often seen as a symbol of adulthood and readiness for marriage.

● Family honour: Egyptian society highly values girls’ sexuality and their virginity as a marker of family honour. Families will marry off their daughters early to legitimise a relationship and avoid the stigma of premarital sex and pregnancy.

● Gender inequality: 46% of women agreed with justifications for a husband beating his wife, showing unequal power dynamics and expectations around gender.

● Trafficking: Young girls are married to elderly rich men (“tourist husbands'') from the Arabian Gulf (mostly from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia), “purchasing” Egyptian girls for temporary or summer marriages. Sometimes these arrangements are facilitated by the girls’ family, who profit from the transaction. These arrangements are a way to bypass human trafficking laws as well as Islamic restrictions on sex outside of wedlock. It is reportedly common in Guiza rural areas, such as Elhawamdeya, Tamouah and Elbadrasheen as well as big cities such as Alexandria, Luxor and Cairo. The Ministerial Regulation No. 9200 of 2015 requires a payment of approximately USD6,400 to be paid if the bride is 25 years or younger than her intended husband Human rights activists in Egypt oppose this regulation as it legalises and formalises the sexual exploitation of young girls.

● Displacement: Egypt is experiencing a continued growth in its number of refugees, hosting more than 256,000 people in January 2020, most of them from Syria. Displacement can increase girls’ vulnerability to child marriage and there is evidence of child marriage rates rapidly increasing among displaced Syrian populations in neighbouring countries.

● Political instability: During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, women and girls faced widespread sexual harassment, rape, and kidnapping. Political collaborations and family alliances were sealed through child marriage. In other cases, girls were married to influential elders or military leaders on the assumption that this would guarantee the girl and her family protection.

● COVID-19: Prior to COVID-19, an estimated 1 in 4 women experienced domestic violence in Egypt. Data indicates that more than 70% of Egyptians believe that domestic violence is acceptable. COVID-19 enforced restrictions are likely to increase economic hardship and isolation of women and girls. This could exacerbate gender-based violence, child marriage, sexual exploitation and trafficking.

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

The government outlined actions taken in relation to this target during its Voluntary National Review at the 2016 High Level Political Forum, the mechanism through which countries report their progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, including:

● The development of Equal Opportunities Units within different ministries, responsible for expanding employment access for women.

● Increasing the participation of young, unemployed women in the economy through the Salheya Initiative.

● The 2015 launch of a partnership between the UN and government agencies focused on the social, legal, and economic empowerment of Egyptian women.

The government submitted a Voluntary National Review in the 2021 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 2021.

Egypt co-sponsored the 2013 Human Rights Council resolution on child, early and forced marriage, and the 2015 resolution to end child, early and forced marriage, recognising that it is a violation of human rights. Egypt signed a joint statement at the 2014 Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

Egypt co-sponsored the 2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.

Egypt 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 1981, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage. However, it expressed concern about Article 16 of CEDAW and noted that Islamic Sharia provisions confirm that a husband shall pay bridal money to a wife. It also entered a general reservation to Article 2 of CEDAW, that it was willing to comply with the content of this article (on non-discrimination), provided that such compliance does not run counter to the Islamic Sharia.

During its 2021 review, the CEDAW Committee noted the government’s efforts to address child marriage through the adoption of the National Strategy to Reduce Early marriage (2015-2020), the National Strategy to Counter Female Genital Mutilation (2016-2020) and the National Strategy for Combating Violence against Women and Girls (2015-2020). However, the Committee raised concerns at the prevalence of child marriages in rural and remote areas, particularly for girls living in poverty, and the lack of information on the outcome of strategies to address gender-based violence. The Committee recommended that the government ensure that Act No. 126 of 2008 on the minimum age of marriage is effectively implemented and that penalties are imposed on ma’zoun for perpetrators contracting to child marriages.

During its 2014 Universal Periodic Review, Egypt agreed to consider recommendations to abolish child marriage and the temporary commercial marriages of girls. During its 2019 Universal Periodic Review, Egypt agreed to review recommendations to intensify efforts to prevent early and forced marriages through awareness-raising campaigns, and review its domestic law in order to fully comply with the minimum marriage age for girls of 18 years.

In 2011, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reiterated concerns about the tourist marriages of Egyptian girls to foreign men, noting that such practices are being used to disguise the prostitution and the trafficking of children. It expressed concern that the monitoring of the situation by subcommittees of marriage clerks, and the establishment of a family counselling helpline, was insufficient in tackling the issue. It urged joint efforts between the Anti-Trafficking Unit of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, law enforcement agencies and civil society to punish perpetrators.

In 2010, the CEDAW Committee urged the government to develop awareness-raising campaigns on the negative implications of temporary marriages in collaboration with religious authorities.

In 2001 Egypt ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, including Article 21 regarding the prohibition of child marriage.

Egypt has not signed or ratified the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, including Article 6 which sets the minimum age for marriage as 18.

In July 2022, the Ministry of Social Solidarity, in collaboration with the European Union, the United Kingdom, and UNDP, launched the ‘Combatting Child Marriage’ campaign under the Strengthening Institutional and Human Resources Capacities of Ministry of Social Solidarity project. This campaign was launched digitally through the Waai Programme for Community Development to raise awareness on the negative effects of child marriage, such the impact on education, gender equality, health and developmental opportunities. Since the launch of the campaign, it has reached approximately 32.5 million people on various social media platforms, including official government websites. The European Union has contributed EUR 6.8 million and the United Kingdom, GBP 1.8 million towards this project.

In October 2021, The Association of the Egyptian Female Lawyers launched the #1000 جمعية# campaign (#1000associations#). This campaign calls on president Abd El Fattah El Sisi and Egyptian parliamentarians to criminalise early marriage and to raise awareness on the risks of early marriage.

A five year National Strategy to Prevent Child Marriage was launched in 2014, led by the government’s National Population Council. The strategy aimed to reduce the prevalence of child marriage by 50% within five years. A National Coordinating Committee was established to implement the strategy, which had five focus areas:

● Minimising the negative impact of child marriage on girls and their families.

● Updating legislation to ensure better protection of women and girls.

● Developing specific policies to mitigate child marriage.

● Empowering and educating young girls to address family and societal pressures.

● Raising awareness on the harmful consequences of child marriage.

The political instability associated with the Arab Spring in Egypt interrupted the strategy’s implementation. However, progress seemed to pick up again in October 2017, under the new president Al-Sisi. He declared that 2017 was the year of Egyptian women and committed to developing the National Council for Women. Their mandate was to develop and protect the rights of women and girls. They launched the No to Underage Marriage campaign in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Endowments and Christian clerics. However, as of March 2020, there are no updates on the implementation of the strategy.

In September 2017, the Head of Egypt’s National Council of Women’s Rights called on Parliament to set a draft new law that raises the legal age of marriage from 18 to 21, and another law that explicitly criminalises child marriage for girls. In 2018, the Ministry of Health announced the drafting of a law to criminalise early marriages, following a speech by president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi drawing attention to the high prevalence of child marriage in the country. As of March 2020, there were no updates on the drafting of this law.

The National Strategic Framework to Ending Violence Against Children in Egypt, released in February 2018, recognises child marriage as a harmful practice and foresees awareness raising responsibilities for various ministries and stakeholders. This framework is integrated in the National Strategic Framework and Plan for Motherhood and Childhood 2018-2030.

In 2019, the deputy Grand Imam of al-Azhar, a prominent official title in Egypt considered by some Muslims to be the highest authority of Islamic jurisprudence, issued a fatwa (a formal ruling or interpretation on a point of Islamic law) against child marriage, saying marriage should be based on the consent of both parties and “particularly the young woman”.

The World Food Programme alongside the Ministry of Education established the Girls’ Education Initiative. The main aim of this initiative is to encourage girls’ education and support girls through education. Through this initiative, families are supported by receiving monthly nutritious meals for girls who attend 80% of their classes.

Other recent initiatives of note include Dawwie, a national initiative designed to engage adolescent girls and boys in activities that help them reach their full potential, while fostering engagement from their families and communities, thus changing the way society sees and talks about girls.

Under the Persons and Family Law No. 126 of 2008, the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years for both men and women. The minimum legal age of marriage is also highlighted under the Egyptian Child Law No. 126 of 2008. This 2008 amendment changed the legal marriage age from 14 to 18 years. Despite the legal change, and due to a lack of criminal penalties, families are able to bypass the law and conclude child marriages through religious ceremonies and then wait till the bride turns 18 to have the marriage legally registered.

Underage girls are frequently married in urfi, an unofficial customary form of marriage.