Guyana

32% of girls in Guyana marry before the age of 18 and 6% marry before the age of 15.

12% of Guyanese boys marry before the age of 18.

Child, Early, and Forced Marriage and Unions (CEFMU) are particularly prevalent among Amerindian communities, and in Upper Takutu-Upper Esequibo and Potaro-Siparuni.

According to UNICEF, CEFMU in Guyana frequently takes the form of a “visiting relationship” — an informal union, with social and sexual relationship but no cohabitation.

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.

There is limited information on CEFMU in Guyana, but available studies show that it is largely driven by:

Level of education: 32.5% of women with primary education were married or in a union before the age of 18 years, compared to 21.2% who had completed higher education.

In Guyana more girls (almost half) than boys are not in employment, education or training (NEET).

Poverty: 36% of women in Guyana’s poorest households were married or in a union before the age of 18, compared to 27.6% from the richest households.

Ethnicity: 32% of of women ages 20 to 24 who were married or in union before the age of 18 were of Afro-descendant in Guyana

Guyana 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 2023 High Level Political Forum. However, there was no mention of child marriage.

Guyana ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, 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 1980, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2019, the CEDAW Committee recommended Guyana to establish the minimum legal age of marriage for girls and boys at 18 years and conduct awareness-raising campaigns to challenge cultural attitudes that legitimise child marriage.

During its 2015 Universal Periodic Review, Guyana considered recommendations related to child marriage to already be in the process of implementation, including ensuring criminalisation of the practice and carrying out awareness-raising among women about their rights.

Guyana, 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 respected evolving capacities and progressive autonomy.

Guyana ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (known as the Belém do Pará Convention) in 1996. 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 of marriage to 18 years for women and men.

Guyana, 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 during the last 40 years at 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.

Guyana is one of the countries where the Spotlight Initiative (a global, multi-year partnership between the European Union and the United Nations) is supporting efforts to end all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls.

In 2022, the Spotlight Initiative achieved:

The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security (MoHSSS) reformed two laws: (1) Family Violence Bill, which was intended to replace the Domestic Violence Act and (2) Protection from Harassment Bill.

A gender-based violence course on “Resilience against and Disruption of Gender-Based Violence,” led by the University of Guyana.

MoHSSS explored the possibility of expanding the Social Protection Framework to cater for survivors/victims of violence.

The financing of 11 safe and confidential counselling spaces, one in each education district. These spaces offered gender-responsive psychosocial support to teachers and children. 150 children and 15 teachers across education districts have received priority councelling on issues ranging from gender-based violence, trauma, self-harm, bullying, suicidal thoughts, grief and gang violence.

Community-based activities conducted in Batavia, Matthews Ridge, and Waramadong. These activities have contributed to community members having greater responsibility in the sensitisation of gender-based violence and related topics such as sexual and reproductive health and self-awareness.

In partnership with Youth Challenge Guyana, using the ‘Partnership for Peace’ evidence-based programme, men and boys were engaged in Baramit on addressing alcohol abuse linked to gender-based violence.

13 private sector companies signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles. These are a set of Principles, established by UN Global Compact and UN Women, that offer guidance to businesses on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace and community.

Guyana is a partner country of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

Under the Marriage Act 1990 the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years.

However, those aged 16 can be married with parental consent. In addition, if a girl under 16 years becomes pregnant or has a child, she may apply by petition to a Judge of the High Court, for permission to be married to the father of her child, if the father of the child is at least 16 years old.