Greece

There is no publicly available government data on child marriage in Greece.

It is believed that child marriage is prevalent within the Greek Muslim and Roma communities predominantly living in the Thrace region of Greece. However, because these marriages remain unregistered, very limited data exists.

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 Greece, but available studies suggest that is exacerbated by:

Migration: Research suggests that children on the move are more vulnerable to child marriage. A 2017 UNICEF study revealed that one in five girls interviewed from countries in West Africa and the Horn of Africa who escaped to Greece left because they had experienced or feared forced marriage.

Ethnicity: A 2014 study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights shows that around 2% of Roma girls aged 10-15 are traditionally married or cohabiting with a partner across 11 European Union member states, including Greece. 16% of Roma boys and girls aged 16-17 are legally or traditionally married or cohabiting across the 11 states.

Greece 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 Voluntary National Review at the 2022 High Level Political Forum; however, there was no mention of child marriage.

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

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

Greece ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993, 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.

During its 2024 review, the CEDAW Committee expressed concern at the prevalence of child marriage, particularly within the Roma community and the Muslim minority community in Thrace. In Thrace, muftis, who are selected by the community, have jurisdiction over Muslim marriages, and perform marriages for girls under the age of 15 years, with parental consent. The Committee recommended that the government remove all exceptions to marriage below the age of 18 years, address the root causes of child marriage, encourage reporting of child marriage, and provide support services to victims of child marriage.

During its 2022 review, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the government raise awareness on the harmful effects of child marriage, particularly within the Roma community and the Muslim minority in Thrace, and encourage the reporting of child marriage in order to establish protection schemes for victims.

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

Reporting to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the government recognised in 2018 that there are women and girls in Greece at risk of certain forms of violence, including early and forced marriages, which require the adoption of specific measures and actions.

The government also reported that the National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2016-2020 envisions training and educational campaigns on the effects of early and forced marriages with girls and boys, parents and intercultural mediators, targeting Roma, migrant and refugee communities.

The minimum legal age of marriage under the Greek Civil Code is 18 years. However, individuals younger than 18 years may enter a marriage with consent from a competent court, if there are “significant reasons” for the marriage. However, the Civil Code does not specify what qualifies and therefore a determination is made on a case by case basis.

Greece operates on a dual judicial system whereby the Muslim minority in the Western Thrace region of Greece are allowed to apply Sharia law. Muftis are appointed by the Greek state and they have jurisdiction over marriage. In these cases, child marriage is allowed where a girl is pregnant or with parental consent. Under Hanafi law, a girl or boy must reach puberty before they can marry. Girls under the age of 15 must have parental consent to marry. Hanafi marriages are legally recognised under Greek and Civil law.