Norway

There are no cases of marriage before age 18 according to data from Statistics Norway, only formal unions – marriages are included

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

In Norway, child marriage is exacerbated by:

Migration: Reported cases of child marriage increased in 2015 and 2016, in connection to the arrival of many asylum seekers. Data from the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs revealed that 60 children were married when applying for asylum in Norway in 2015. The majority of children were from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and at least 10 girls were under the age of 16.

Forced marriage: According to the Centre for Women’s Studies and Gender Research at the University of Oslo, child welfare services in Norway dealt with 63 children in forced marriage cases from 2005-2006, 83% of whom were girls. The Oslo Red Cross’ Expert Team for the Prevention of Forced Marriage registered 114 cases of forced marriage, with the vast majority concerning young girls.

Homophobia: Young homosexuals from certain minority populations are reportedly forced to marry or are threatened with forced marriage in Norway.

Norway 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 since 2021. The government submitted a 2021 Voluntary National Review at the High Level Political Forum. It was noted that Norway has made great strides in promoting gender equality and eliminating harmful practices such as child marriage, gender biased sex-selection and female genital mutilation.

Norway co-sponsored the following Human Rights Council resolutions: the 2013 procedural resolution on child, early and forced marriage, the 2015 resolution on child, early and forced marriage, 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. In 2014, Norway also signed a joint statement at the Human Rights Council calling for a resolution on child marriage.

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

Norway ratified 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 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 2023 review, the CEDAW Committee commended Norway for being among the highest ranked countries in terms of gender equality. The Committee noted the implementation of several amendments, which included expanding the prohibition of forced marriage to include extrajudicial forced marriage, and expanding the duty to avert a criminal offence to encompass forced marriage, human trafficking, and aggravated sexual activity with children between the ages of 14 and 16.

In 2018, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended Norway to develop awareness-raising campaigns and programmes targeted at religious communities that conduct child marriages on the harmful effects of child marriage, and at children on how to seek help if they fear being sent abroad to be subjected to child marriage.

Norway 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.

In 2019, at the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, Norway committed to end gender-based violence and harmful practices, including child marriage, domestically, internationally and in humanitarian situations.

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

Norway is a global champion of eradicating child marriage. At national level, the government banned child marriage in May 2018.

In 2017, the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security launched the Action Plan to Combat Negative Social Control, Forced Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (2017-2020), which includes provision to end child marriage within its priority areas:

Strengthen legal protection for vulnerable people.

Strengthen assistance to people who break contact with their family and network.

Change attitudes and practices in the relevant communities.

Enhance knowledge in the support services.

Strengthen research and increase knowledge sharing.

Previously, Norway had implemented the Action Plan against Forced Marriage (2008-2011) and Action Plan against Forced Marriage, Female Genital Mutilation and Severe Restrictions on Young People’s Freedom (2013-2016).

In regards to Norway’s international cooperation, in 2019 the Minister of International Development Dag-Inge Ulstein presented Norway's International Strategy to Eliminate Harmful Practices (2019-2023). The strategy sets the framework for the Foreign Service to expand its efforts to combat harmful practices, with a focus on child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, using targeted measures and as an integral part of its development cooperation activities related to education, health care, gender equality and human rights efforts, among others.

Crown Prince Haakon, working alongside UNICEF Norway and Plan Norway, has committed to the “Children, not brides” action plan. It is hoped that this project will reach up to three million children to end child marriage in Niger, Nepal, Malawi, Mali and Bangladesh.

In 2019, Norway also committed a total of NOK 110 million (almost USD 12 million) to UN’s efforts to combat harmful practices, namely child marriage, female genital mutilation and gender-selective abortion (son preference). As of 2019, Norway had contributed a total of NOK 25 million (almost USD 2.8 million) to the UNICEF-UNFPA Global Programme to Accelerate Action To End Child Marriage, a multi-donor, multi-stakeholder programme working across 12 countries.

Previous efforts by Norway to end child marriage include:

In 2014 the Director General of NORAD reaffirmed Norway’s commitment to supporting efforts to end child marriage, and highlighted its contributions in this area to Norwegian Church Aid, Save the Children, Plan, UNICEF and UNFPA.

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) funded a baseline study on combatting child marriage in Ethiopia in 2011.

In 2004 a team of experts was established to combat forced marriage. Minority advisors have been introduced to secondary schools with high percentages of students from minority backgrounds to tackle forced marriage.

The government has supported the Oslo Red Cross’ Forced Marriage Hotline and Self Help for Immigrants and Refugees’ assistance for young people at danger of being forced into marriage.

Norway has been increasing collaboration with countries of origin of forced marriage. A 2005 bilateral agreement between Norway and Pakistan aims to increase dialogue and understanding on cases of forced marriage between the two countries.

Following amendments to the Marriage Act in May 2018, the minimum age of marriage is 18 years for both men and women with no exceptions.

The amendments effectively ban child marriage in Norway. Previously the country had a minimum age of 18 but allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with parental consent and permission from the county governor.