Netherlands

There is no publicly available government data on child marriage in the Netherlands.

A 2016 study showed that about 250 girls entered civil marriages in the Netherlands between 2013 and 2014. Figures for religious marriages are unclear.

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

While there is limited information on child marriage in the Netherlands, evidence suggests that child marriage is also driven by:

Migration:Child marriage cases are increasing in the Netherlands, following the 2015 migrant crisis of Syrian refugees. Large numbers of Syrian girls coming into the Netherlands are legally married in Syria, but upon arrival in the Netherlands are below the Dutch age of consent. Between July 2014 and January 2016, the Dutch Immigration registered approximately 270 child brides from Syria, the youngest being 14 years old. However, there is limited information about child marriage among refugees in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands 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 2022 High Level Political Forum. In this review, the raised that they spearheaded the UN resolution to end child marriage and the resolution on violence against women.

The government submitted a Voluntary National Review at the 2017 High Level Political Forum. In this review, the government highlighted its support of international efforts to end all forms of forced marriage.

The Netherlands has co-sponsored the following Human Rights Council resolutions: the 2013 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 Human Rights Council resolution recognising the need to address child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian contexts, the 2019 Human Rights Council 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. In 2014, the Netherlands also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

The Netherlands co-sponsored the 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage.

The Netherlands acceded to 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 ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1991, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

The Netherlands has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence (known as the Istanbul Convention), which considers forced marriage a serious form of violence against women and girls, and legally binds state parties to criminalise the intentional conduct of forcing an adult or child into a marriage.

At the London Girl Summit in July 2014, the government signed a charter committing to end child marriage by 2020.

In February 2020, the government committed to take steps to amend the law so that child marriages that were concluded abroad will no longer be recognised in the Netherlands. Currently such marriages are recognised and registered in the civil register once both partners come of age.

The Netherlands is a global champion of preventing and ending child marriage and has provided an estimated EUR 97.5 million in funding efforts in the past five years. This includes EUR 20 million from 2014-2018 to the UNICEF-UNFPA Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage, a multi-donor, multi-stakeholder programme working across 12 countries over fifteen years. The government of the Netherlands has also worked with Girls Not Brides to influence other key funders to recognise the importance of eliminating child marriage. In November 2016, Girls Not Brides The Netherlands launched the eighth Girls Not Brides National Partnership to encourage and build on these efforts. In 2017, it organised an event to discuss the current status of child marriage in the Netherlands and presented case studies to the Minister of Justice and Security.

In 2015, the government invested EUR 215 million in seven civil society organisations working on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Three of these specifically focus on ending child marriage:

More Than Brides Alliance

Yes, I Do Alliance

Her Choice Alliance.

Her Choice was an alliance of four Netherlands-based organisations that worked together between 2016-2020 to combat child marriage in 10 African and Asian countries: Uganda, Senegal, Pakistan, Nepal, Mali, Ghana, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Benin and Bangladesh.

In 2014, the Netherlands contributed EUR 4.8 million to the AmplifyChange fund, which addresses a broader range of sexual and reproductive health and gender issues that are associated with child marriage.

Under the Civil Code Book 1, Persons and Family Law 2012 the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years. However, individuals may marry before 18 years with the permission of the Minister of Justice and with parental consent.

In addition, in 2015, due to the increasing number of Syrian child brides, a new Dutch legislation came into force. Under the Forced Marriage (Prevention) Act, This was adopted by the Senate in October 2015, if someone under 18 marries (or has married) abroad, and stipulated that the marriage will not be recognised until both partners have reached the age of 18.

Further to this, Article 10:32 paragraph C of the Dutch Civil Code states that a marriage concluded abroad where one spouse is below the age of 18 will not be legally recognised in the Netherlands until both spouses have reached the age of 18.