Haiti

15% of girls in Haiti marry or enter a union before age 18 and 2% marry or enter union before age 15.

2% of boys in Haiti marry or enter a union before age 18.

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 very limited information on CEFMU in Haiti, but available studies show that it is driven by:

Gender-based violence against girls: In the case of sexual violence, some girls are forced to engage in a marriage or plasaj with perpetrators through out-of-court settlements. In 2022, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported 1,119 kidnappings and the Single Health Information System (SISNU) recorded 16,470 incidents of gender-based violence and 949 cases of sexual violence.

Humanitarian settings can encompass a wide range of situations before, during, and after natural disasters, conflicts, and epidemics. They exacerbate poverty, insecurity, and lack of access to services such as education, factors which all drive CEFMU. While gender inequality is a root cause of CEFMU in both stable and crisis contexts, often in times of crisis, families see CEFMU as a way to cope with greater economic hardship and to protect girls from increased violence.

Over the years, Haiti has grappled with social, economic and political issues, recurring natural disasters and gang violence, particularly in the capital, Port-au-Prince. As of January 2024, approximately 5.5 million people in Haiti are in need of humanitarian assistance. Extreme violence perpetrated by gangs and armed groups continues to affect remote and rural areas. Structural weaknesses have exacerbated the lack of basic services, particularly as hospitals, doctors and educators have become targets. In 2023, approximately 1 million children who reside in gang-controlled areas were unable to attending school due to insecurity.

Natural disasters: In Haiti, the 2010 earthquake reportedly led to an increase in CEFMU. This is common in post-disaster contexts where children are unprotected, vulnerable and are sometimes married off as a protection mechanism. Ten years later, the humanitarian conditions in Haiti deteriorated again due natural disasters and population displacements, coupled with socio-political tensions and violent protests against the government. By 2024, 906 schools have been completely or partially destroyed and approximately 1 million children are out of school. All these elements contribute to putting Haitian girls at a higher risk of being married or entering into unions early.

Haiti has committed to ending child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The government has not submitted a Voluntary National Review in any High Level Political Forum to date.

Haiti co-sponsored the following Human Rights Council resolutions: the 2013 procedural 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 on recognising the need to address child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian contexts, the 2019 resolution on the consequences of child marriage, and the 2021 resolution on early and forced marriage in times of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2014, Haiti also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

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

Haiti ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1995, 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.

During its 2016 review, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern that girls may be married at 15 under Article 133 of the Civil Code. It also raised concerns that the legal status of a child of 15 can be waived by parental decision, leading to his or her treatment as an adult under the law. This places girls who marry young or become divorced in an especially vulnerable position.

During its 2016 Universal Periodic Review, Haiti supported recommendations to establish a legal framework to better protect girls from forced marriage, and to establish a minimum age of marriage of 18 for both women and men.

Haiti, 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 respects evolving capacities and progressive autonomy.

Haiti ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (known as the Belém do Pará Convention) in 1997. 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 for marriage to 18 years for women and men.

Haiti, 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 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 in the last 40 years in 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.

Haiti 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.

Haiti is one of the countries where the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)/DREAMS Initiative is working to reduce rates of HIV among adolescent girls and young women.

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

Under the Civil Code 1982 the minimum legal age of marriage in Haiti is 15 years for girls and 18 years for boys. With parental authorization, the marriage of girls from the age of 15 and of men from the age of 18 is allowed. Furthermore, in some cases, the President of the Republic may grant a waiver for the marriage of girls under 15 and boys under 18 years of age.