Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean on the Impact of Laws on CEFMU

Objectives

This report serves as an introduction to the impact of CEFMU laws, sexual consent laws and the human rights and agency of girls, adolescents and young women in the LAC region where prevalence of child, early and forced marriages and unions (CEFMU) has remained virtually unchanged over the past 25 years in spite of legal reforms in most countries to set 18 as the legal age of marriage.

• Review of limited published literature on these issues and overview of international, regional and national legal frameworks

• Consultation & dialogue bringing in the perspectives of Girls Not Brides CSO members in the region

Findings

• While most countries have reformed laws to set the minimum marriage age at 18, government commitment often stops there, and the persistence of CEFMU illustrates the law’s inadequacy in addressing deep-rooted social norms and structural inequalities that perpetuate CEFMU

• The dynamics of marriage in the region are evolving with many ‘types’ of marriages/unions whereas the law generally treats all the same

• Informal unions are common among adolescents but are often not addressed by laws, leaving girls without legal protections or support during or when these relationships end

• Increasing criminalization of CEFMU and adolescent sexuality leads to negative impacts such as restricted access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and support

- Legal enforcement often results in harassment, emotional abuse, social stigma, and reluctance among medical professionals to provide services to minors

- Countries are considering raising the age of sexual consent (which varies between 13 and 18 across the region) to match the age of marriage disregarding the realities of adolescent sexual activity, adolescents’ evolving capacities and right to sexual and bodily autonomy, with the risk of further restricting access to SRHR services and support in the region of the world with the highest rates of unintended adolescent pregnancy

Recommendations

• Transformation of gender and social norms and intersectional gender transformative approaches to address structural inequalities is needed to create the conditions for girls, adolescent girls and young people to exercise agency in all aspects of their lives as laws in isolation are ill-equipped to address the dynamics of this social practice.

• The diverse dynamics and types of marriage/unions needs need to inform legal reforms

• Alternatives to criminalisation of CEFMU and/or adolescent sexuality need to be explored given the negative consequences including restricted access to SRHR services

services

• The principle of evolving capacities needs to influence legal reforms around age of marriage and age of consent

• The report concludes with a series of key questions that emerge from the evidence to inspire future debates