Russia

According to Rosstat, the Federal State Statistic Survey, in 2017, for women aged 20-24, 0.3% were married before the age of 15 and 6% before the age of 18.

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

There is limited information on child marriage in Russia, but available studies show that it is driven by:

Bride kidnapping: In 2017 there were reports of child marriage and bride kidnapping in the North Caucasus.

Power dynamics: In 2015 a middle-aged Chechen police officer’s plans to marry a 17 year old girl from a small village in the region as a second wife made international headlines. Russia Children’s Rights Ombudsman Pavel Astakhov defended the marriage, arguing that emancipation and sexual maturity happen at an early age in the Caucasus. The case highlighted the complicity of Russian authorities when dealing with child marriage cases.

Trafficking: The U.S. State Department’s 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report mentioned that children from Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and Central Asia are victims of sex trafficking and forced prostitution in Russia. Russian children are reportedly victims of sex trafficking domestically and abroad. However, the link between this and child marriage is unclear.

Gender inequality: Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, minority communities in rural parts of Russia have reverted to traditional social roles for men and women. These communities place high value on chastity and discourage pre-marital relationships. Girls are considered to be a burden to the family whereas boys are considered to be an asset.

Poverty: The collapse of the Soviet Union impacted families' economic stability and parents are more inclined to marry their daughters early in order to secure their financial and social standing within their communities.

Russia 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 2020. The government submitted a 2020 Voluntary National Review at the High Level Political Forum. This review indicated that cases of child marriage in Russia are rare and isolated.

Russia 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 2024 review, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the government end the harmful practices in the North Caucasus, including honour killings, femicide, child marriage, the abduction of girls and women and female genital mutilation/cutting (FMG/C).

In 2018, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the minimum legal age be raised to 18 years with no exceptions, specifically in the North Caucasus to ensure that child marriages do not lead to the sale of children.

During Russia’s 2015 review, the CEDAW Committee raised concerns about the increasing prevalence of harmful practices, including child marriage, in the country.

Under Article 12 of the Family Code 1997 the minimum legal age of marriage is 18 years for both men and women.

However, under Article 13 of the Family Code, under special circumstances provided for by the Federal and local legislation, a girl and boy may marry at an earlier age but not younger than 14 years old.