Philippines

9% of Filipino girls marry before age 18 and 2% marry before age 15.

3% of boys in Philippines marry before age 18.

Philippines has the 10th highest absolute number of women married or in a union before the age of 18 in the world – 808,000.

Women in Soccsksargen, Eastern Visayas and Mimaropa marry earlier than those in other regions.

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

In the Philippines, child marriage is exacerbated by:

● Trafficking: The trafficking of women and girls from rural regions of Visayas and Mindanao to urban cities such as Cebu City, Manila and Quezon City is common. Trafficking also occurs in tourist destinations such as Boracay, Angeles City and Surigao where there is a high demand for commercial sex from women and girls. Some girls are forced into marriage. The Philippines’ popular “mail-order bride” industry also places girls at risk of being subject to forced marriage.

● Religion: The Muslim Law on Personal Status, based on Sharia law, allows marriage at the age of 15 for boys and at the onset of puberty for girls. The Philippines is predominantly Roman Catholic and the only country in the world that does not allow divorce. This places young married girls in a particularly vulnerable position.

● Level of education: A 2017 Poverty Indicators Survey revealed that the majority of children out of school are girls, with marriage being the top reason for school dropout.

● Adolescent pregnancy: In the Philippines, one in 10 girls aged 15–19 are already mothers. Adolescent pregnancy can occur both before and after marriage.

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 in both stable and crisis contexts, often in times of crisis, families see child marriage as a way to cope with greater economic hardship and to protect girls from increased violence.

Due to its geographical location, the Philippines is exposed to natural disasters which include tropical cyclones, active volcanoes and other climate related risks. In December 2021, typhoon Rai (Odette), made landfall 9 times which caused destruction and left 12 million people vulnerable. Additionally, since 2012, on the island of Mindanao, there has been ongoing conflict between the government and armed groups.

● Internal conflict and displacement: The displacement in the Bangsamoro region (most recently in 2015) resulted in a number of child marriage cases, as families in evacuation centres saw marrying off their daughters as a coping mechanism due to economic instability, fear of violence, and a felt need to maintain “family honour”. During the Marawi siege crisis in 2017, a survey by Plan International revealed that early and forced marriage was a common form of violence against girls in the evacuation sites, and many girls were forced to marry their perpetrator in cases of sexual violence.

The Philippines 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; however, there was no mention of child marriage.

The Philippines co-sponsored the 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on child, early and forced marriage, and the 2015 Human Rights Council resolution to end child, early and forced marriage, recognising that it is a violation of human rights.

The Philippines 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 (CEDAW) in 1981, which obligates states to ensure free and full consent to marriage.

During its 2023 review, the CEDAW Committee raised concerns that there has been an increase in adolescent pregnancies, child marriage, child labour and school drop-out among girls. The Committee noted with concern the discriminatory gender stereotypes within education, the low enrolment rate of girls, and the lack of education surrounding family planning, sexual and reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases. The Committee recommended that the government address the root causes of girls dropping out of school and ensure that girls return to education, and that the government create safe educational environments that are free from gender-based violence and harassment.

In 2016 the CEDAW Committee urged the government to eliminate the root causes of child and forced marriage, including poverty, conflict and insecurity, as well as vulnerability to the impact of natural disasters. It also raised concerns between the provisions of the Magna Carta on Women and those of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws and customary laws applicable to indigenous communities, which drive harmful practices such as child and forced marriage.

During its 2022 review, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern that 9% of children, particularly girls, are out of school due to child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, poverty, and disability. The Committee recommended that the government take measures to address the school dropout rates and the causes.

During its 2022 Universal Periodic Review, it was acknowledged that the government enacted a law to criminalise child marriage.

During the Philippines’ 2017 Universal Periodic Review, the Human Rights Committee recommended that the government revise the minimum age of marriage for girls in the Code of Muslim Personal Laws.

In 2012 a UN envoy warned that Filipino girls are at particular risk of being forced into marriage and that the sexual exploitation of girls remained socially and culturally tolerated in the Philippines.

The Philippines 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.

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

As reported by UNFPA in 2019, the Department of Health and the Commission on Population and Development are developing, with the technical assistance of UNFPA, a fatwa (a legal opinion on a point of Islamic law) that will discourage early marriages. The Commission on Population and Development is also working with religious leaders and other elders to raise awareness about the forthcoming fatwa.

In 2018, a bill to criminalise Child Marriage in the Philippines was filed in the House of Representatives. If enacted into law the bill would penalise solemnising officers and parents who arranged and consented to a child marriage. However, as of end of 2019, the enactment of the bill is reported to be shelved.

Under the Family Code 1988, the legal minimum age of marriage is 18 for both girls and boys. Parental consent is required for persons under 21.

However, under the Muslim Law on Personal Status girls are eligible to be married as soon as they reach puberty (but not below the age of 12) and with permission of the Court. Muslim boys can be married at age 15.