Laos

33% of Lao girls marry before the age of 18 and 7% marry before the age of 15.

10% of boys in Laos marry before the age of 18.

Child marriage is most prevalent in remote rural areas and the provinces of Xaysomboune (where half of women aged 20-24 were married before the age of 18), Huaphanh (46%), Phongsaly and Borikhamxay (42%).

Child marriage is most prevalent among the Hmong Mien (57%), Mon-Khmer (39%) and Chinese-Tibetan (36%) ethnic groups.

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

In Laos, child marriage is also driven by:

● Level of education: Girls’ education is often not prioritised as boys traditionally inherit family property whereas girls leave home to marry. As a result, almost 60% of women (age 20-24) with no education were married before the age of 18, compared to 16% who completed secondary education.

● Poverty: 56% of women in Laos’ poorest households married as children, compared to only 13% living in the richest households. Together with the lack of employment opportunities for young women, child marriage can be used as a means of economic survival and security for families.

● Harmful practices: The practices of Tshoob nii (“bride theft” or effectively kidnapping a girl bride) and Tshoob zawj (where a woman is forced to marry a man and attempts to convince the parents may include payments) reportedly still occurs among Hmong and Khmu populations. This sees girls as young as 12 being married and sometimes offered as a payment to settle disputes. Geographical isolation contributes to the persistence this practice: 39% of women who were married as children live in rural areas, compared to only 21% in urban areas. Many girls in isolated areas see marriage as their only option.

● Pre-marital sex: Girls engaging in pre-marital sex are often stigmatised and this sometimes pressures them to marry young.

● Adolescent pregnancy: 17.4% of Laotian girls had given birth by age 18, with higher rates in remote areas. Starting a family is still considered the “normal” thing to do for many teenagers and often goes hand in hand with marrying.

● Domestic work: Girls are mostly seen in their domestic role and as advantageous to a groom’s family as they provide free labour, and her family receives a dowry payment in return.

● Trafficking: There are reports of Laotian girls being trafficked into China, where they are forcedly married to Chinese men.

● COVID-19: The pandemic has had an adverse impact on the rights of girls and women in Laos, especially the most vulnerable such as girls at risk of child marriage and already married girls. Lockdowns increased the risks of violence, abuse and psychosocial issues – counselling requests to service providers increased on these issues. Many girls also dropped out of upper secondary school, and were more at risk of child marriage, early pregnancy, sexual exploitation and child labour.

Laos 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 2021 High Level Political Forum. In this review, the government acknowledged that child marriage, adolescent pregnancies, lack of adequate sexual and reproductive health services and support for adolescent girls are factors that impact the education enrolment rate. The government noted that Laos has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy and child marriage rates in the ASEAN region. During the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, the government committed to various actions to uphold and protect women’s and girls’ rights in Laos. This includes ending gender-based violence through the establishment of the National Action Plan for the Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women (2021-2025), the Second National Strategy for the Advancement of Women (2016-2025) and the Five-Year Plan of Action for Gender Equality (2016-2020).

Laos reported on the progress and some of the challenges of measuring indicators related to gender and child marriage in its 2018 Voluntary National Review at the High Level Political Forum.

Laos acceded to 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 ratified 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.

In 2011 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the government consolidate a national system for data collection, analysis, research and strategies to address violence against children. In 2018, the Committee expressed deep concerns about the fact that, although the minimum age for marriage is set at 18, child marriage remains highly prevalent, especially among girls in certain ethnic groups.

Similarly, in 2018, the CEDAW Committee expressed concerns about the persistent prevalence of harmful practices such as early marriage despite its prohibition, and the insufficient measures taken to address the root causes of this practice.

In 2017, the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children made a visit to Lao PDR. She highlighted that child and forced marriages are an area of utmost concern and recommended that Lao PDR tackle the impunity for these crimes and develop an integrated national child protection system.

During its 2015 Universal Periodic Review, Laos agreed to examine recommendations to establish legislation which penalises child marriage.

Laos has committed to the ASEAN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and Violence against Children (2013), which acknowledges the importance of strengthening ASEAN efforts to protect children from all forms of violence, including early marriage.

In 2019, at the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, Laos committed to end gender-based violence and harmful practices, focusing on early marriage among adolescents through the revised National Action Plan for Prevention and Elimination of VAW 2021-2025 and its implementation through the Essential Service Package.

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

The Story of Three Girls,’ a short film, was produced by the government with the support of UNICEF, the National Commission for the Advancement of Women, Mothers and Children (NCAWMC), the Ministry of Education and the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to improve community awareness on the issue and prevention of child marriage.

With the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women and girls in Laos, the government launched National Action Plans for Ending Violence Against Women and Children and Gender equality, and other national policies such as the Youth and Adolescent Development Strategy. There are also a number of hotlines for young people to call with concerns about violence, exploitation, domestic abuse and sexual exploitation.

In 2018, Save the Children began the “Safe in my Community” programme across three districts in Laung Prabang, supported by funding from the Australian Government. The programme improves the resilience of adolescents (10-14 year olds) and ensures they develop in safe and supportive communities. Children develop key skills related to avoiding child marriage like negotiation skills, understanding the importance of gender equality, and how to seek help when needed.

Laos’ National Social Economic Development Plan (2016-2020) includes a performance indicator related to adolescent pregnancy as a first step towards reducing child marriage.

In 2015, Laos adopted the National Plan of Action to Prevent and Eliminate Violence against Women and Children (2014-2020) and a Law on Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women and Children. Article 17 defines forced marriage as a form of violence against women and children, and Article 79 notes that people forcing a child under 18 to marry will be imprisoned and fined.

As of the end of 2019, Laos was formulating a new National Action Plan for Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women and Children (2021-2025), which will include an Essential Service Package (ESP). The ESP is a multi-sectoral response plan that clarifies the needs and rights of women and girls subjected to gender-based violence, including child marriage and adolescent pregnancy.

The National Plan of Action for Mothers and Children (2016-2018) included an objective on decreasing child marriage. The plan also included a project on training of trainers at the provincial and district level to disseminate, monitor and support efforts related to child marriage.

Laos has organised campaigns on the topic of early marriage. In 2016, United Nations agencies and the government launched the 2030 Noi Framework (“Noi” is a ten-year-old girl who represents adolescent girls in Laos). The aim of the campaign is to make the case for the SDGs, increase investments and serve as an entry point for dialogue and awareness about adolescent issues, especially early marriage and pregnancy.

In 2014 the National Commission for Mothers and Children, in collaboration with the Lao Statistics Bureau and UNICEF, conducted a national study on violence against children, including child marriage, as a first step in producing future policy and legislation.

Under the Family Law 1990 the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years.

However, individuals may marry at 15 years “in special and necessary cases”.