Mexico

21% of women in Mexico marry or enter a union before the age of 18 and 4% marry before the age of 15.

Child, Early and Forced Marriage and Unions (CEFMU) are most prevalent in the Northeast of Mexico and the Sur region.

Though rates of officially registered CEFMU have fallen in Mexico, more girls and adolescents are being pushed into informal unions, which are reportedly four times more common than registered marriages. Juntarse, which means “to get together” and is used to refer to an informal union, usually sees a girl or adolescent and her family agree on a union, but paperwork is not filed until much later.

Child, Early and Forced Marriage and Unions (CEFMU) are driven by gender inequality and the belief that women are somehow inferior to men.

In Mexico, CEFMU is also driven by:

● Level of education: 50% of women with no education were married or in a union before the age of 18, compared to only 4% who had completed higher education.

● Poverty: 38% of women living in Mexico’s poorest households were married or in a union before the age of 18, compared to 10% of those living in the richest households. A 2016 study by UN Women found that 60% of interviewed Mexican women who were married as children lived in poverty at the time.

● Adolescent pregnancy: Almost half of adolescent girls (aged 12-17) who are married have at least one child. In some communities, CEFMU is encouraged to avoid pre-marital sex. Between 2015-2020, for girls between the ages of 15-19, the adolescent birth rate in Mexico was 71 births per 1000 girls with 21% of girls giving birth before the age of 18.

● Harmful practices: CEFMU is most common in rural areas of Mexico, particularly among indigenous groups, including the Chiapas, Guerrero and Veracruz, where customary laws prevail over state legislation. Girls are also sold by their families for as much as 200,000 pesos ($10,000 USD) known as “milk rights” which will cover the cost of pregnancy, childbirth and raising the bride into her adult years.

● Trafficking: Child marriage is used as a means to traffic adolescent girls into the sex trade in border towns such as Tijuana, Chiapas and Ciudad Juarez.

● Power dynamics: Most adolescent girls aged 12-17 who are in a union are at least six years younger than their partner and 65% are younger by 11 years or more. Even if the adolescent girl is involved in the decision-making process on entering a union, she often does it with someone with far more power and resources.

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 child marriage. While gender inequality is a root cause of child marriage as a way to cope in greater economic hardship and to protect girls from increased violence.

In recent years, gang warfare and violence have transformed the Central American countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador (commonly known as the Northern Triangle Region) into some of the most dangerous places on earth. Over half a million people, the majority of them women, children and unaccompanied minors, have fled and are seeking asylum in the United States.

Mexico has been plagued by years of violence caused by drug cartels and gangs. In 2018, the country faced its deadliest year with over 33,000 homicides. In 2022, there were 30,968 recorded homicides and 947 femicides. A majority of the homicides took place in the State of Mexico, Chihuahua, Jalisco, and Michoaćan.

● Forced displacement: Harsh migration policies, such as the “Remain in Mexico” policy introduced by the United States have increased the dangers for an already vulnerable population, and women and girls are at a heightened risk of sexual violence during the migration route. Although there is a lack in research and data of the impact of the Central America refugee crisis on CEFMU, previous experiences show that forced displacement increases girls’ vulnerability to CEFMU.

Mexico has committed to ending child, early and forced marriage by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The government reiterated its commitment to this target during its 2016, 2018 and 2021 Voluntary National Reviews at High Level Political Forums. The government is due to submit a Voluntary National Review at the 2024 High Level Political Forum.

Mexico co-sponsored the following Human Rights Council resolutions: 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, 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.

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

Mexico ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, 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 in 1981, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

In 2018, the CEDAW Committee expressed concerns about reports of forced marriage taking place, especially in indigenous communities. The Committee recommended Mexico to ensure the effective implementation of the minimum age of marriage of 18 years of age throughout the country, and conduct awareness-raising campaigns to challenge cultural attitudes that legitimise early marriage.

During Mexico’s 2015 review, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern about cases of forced child marriage among indigenous girls.

During its 2018 Universal Periodic Review, Mexico agreed to review recommendations to work towards ensuring that relevant federal legislation is consistent with the General Act on the Rights of Children and Adolescents in respect of the minimum age for marriage.

Mexico, 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.

Mexico ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (known as the Belém do Pará Convention) in 1998. 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.

Mexico, 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 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.

Mexico is one of the countries where the UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women are working together under the Latin America and the Caribbean Joint Programme for a Region Free of Child Marriage and Early Unions (2018-2021) to: align national frameworks with international standards, empower girls, promote policies and services that address the drivers of child marriage and early unions, and break the silence nationally and regionally.

In November 2015, UN Women, UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization launched a regional programme on preventing violence against women and girls in Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico. The programme promotes changes in law to eliminate all exceptions to the minimum age of marriage.

Mexico 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. The Spotlight Initiative in Mexico has focussed on the eradication of femicide and other forms of violence against women. The initiative was implemented in five municipalities in three states: State of Mexico, Chihuahua and Guerrero. Between 2019-2020, the European Union has invested $6 million USD. The funds have been distributed as follows:

Policy: Establish legal frameworks for the eradication of femicide and violence against women and girls as well as revise the General Law of Administrative Responsibilities in order to hold public officials accountable.

Institutions: Facilitate inter-agency coordination and strengthen institutions to achieve change that challenges patriarchal norms.

Prevention: Strengthen and promote leadership among women and girls, and train journalists how to ethically convey information on femicide and violence against women and girls.

Data: Increase capacity and support key institutions to better collect data that will inform laws, policies and programs to address femicide and violence against women and girls.

Women’s movement and civil society: Provide training to human rights organizations and women’s groups based on the identified needs and priorities such as accountability, strategic litigation and criminology.

In July 2023, during the 5th Steering Committee for the Spotlight Initiative, the country showcased their results in their efforts towards ending violence against women. This included:

3 federal reforms.

15 laws approved at state level to strengthen, prevent and eliminate femicide.

59 knowledge products.

Strengthening over 40 civil society organizations and women’s collectives in the State of Mexico, Guerrero and Chihuahua.

Mexico is a Pathfinder country for the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing rates of femicide and violence against women and girls led the Spotlight Initiative to establish a programme #NoEstásSola (You are not alone) in collaboration with the United Nations, European Union and the Government of Mexico. This programme is aimed at raising awareness of violence prevention measures and avenues of support available for women and girls.

In 2021, the Spotlight Initiative partnered with the Municipal DIF (National System for Integral Family Development), the Directorate of Mobility and Road Culture and the Sub directorate of Family and Gender Violence of the Ministry of Public Security in order to rejuvenate public space by installing public lighting, signs and other improvements in Chihuahua City. It is anticipated that this will provide a safe meeting point for women and girls who are experiencing violence.

In June 2019, all exceptions to the minimum age of marriage were removed through the amendment of the Federal Civil Code.

In 2015 the Federal Government launched the National Strategy for Prevention of Pregnancy in Adolescents. The strategy aims to reduce adolescent pregnancy – a core driver of child marriage – within a human rights and gender equality framework.

The General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents 2014 establishes 18 years as the minimum age of marriage. In June 2019, amendments to the Federal Civil Code were introduced which removed all exceptions to the minimum age of marriage. Previously, girls could marry at 14 and boys could marry at 16 with parental consent.

However, the age of marriage varies at the state level and is dependent on each state’s legislation.