Marshall Islands

26% of girls in the Marshall Islands are married before the age of 18 and 6% are married before their 15th birthday.

12% of boys in the Marshall Islands are married before the age of 18.

Rates of child marriage in the Marshall Islands may be even higher due to customary and informal cohabitation marriages which are not officially registered in courts.

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

There is very limited information on child marriage in the Marshall Islands, but evidence suggests that child marriage is also driven by:

Harmful practices: Patriarchal attitudes are entrenched and the practice of customary marriage, which is exempt from minimum age requirement, is widespread, particularly in the outer islands. It compels girls to get married, especially when they become pregnant.

Exploitation: According to the CEDAW Committee some Marshallese women and girls are being exploited by foreigners – men who marry them in order to obtain Marshallese nationality, which entitles them to visa-free entry into the United States, and who then file for divorce.

The Marshall Islands 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 2021 Voluntary National Review 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.

Marshall Islands co-sponsored the following Human Rights Council resolutions: 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. Marshall Islands also co-sponsored the 2016 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.

The Marshall Islands 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 acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2006, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2018, the CEDAW Committee expressed concerns about the persistence of discriminatory stereotypes concerning the roles and responsibilities of women and men, which perpetuate harmful practices such as child marriage in the Marshall Islands.

In 2018, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed similar concerns about the prevalence of customary child marriages, and urged the government to prevent this practice, including by strengthening its awareness-raising campaigns and programmes.

During its 2020 Universal Periodic Review, the CEDAW Committee expressed concern that under customary marriages there was no minimum age requirement. The Committee was also concerned that women and girls were often forced to enter customary marriages especially if they were pregnant. It was recommended that the minimum age be strictly applied to all marriages through an amendment to Section 434 of the Births, Deaths and Marriage Registration Act.

Similarly, in 2018, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child raised concerns at the prevalence of customary marriages that affect girls living in the outer islands and recommended that awareness-raising campaigns and programs on the harmful effects of child marriage be strengthened. The Committee was also concerned at the negative impact child marriage has had on education enrolment and advised that the Public School System Act be effectively implemented.

The Marshall Islands are a partner development country of the Global Partnership for Education.

Regionally, the Spotlight Pacific Regional Initiative builds on existing commitments across 16 Pacific Island countries, including the Marshall Islands.

In February 2016, the Ministry of Internal Affairs submitted an amended bill to cabinet, which raised the minimum age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18 years.

In 2017, the Ministry of Health, Youth to Youth in Health and the Wa Kuk Wa Jimor (the government department responsible for reaching outer islands) reported to have been conducting community outreach awareness programmes on teenage pregnancy, school dropouts and cohabitation among children in the Marshall Islands.

In 2018, the CEDAW Committee noted the lack of specific measures taken by the government of the Marshall Islands to end child marriage as a harmful traditional practice.

The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration (Amendment) Act raised in August 2016 the minimum legal age for marriage of girls and boys to 18 years with no exceptions. Previously girls were able to marry at 16 years with parental consent.

It should be noted however that the minimum age of marriage in the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration (Amendment) Act (statutory law) does not apply to customary marriages. Customary marriages are recognised by the Constitution under customary law and require confirmation by the High Court of the Marshall Islands.