UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is being implemented across the UK. The child rights obligations highlighting the need for legal reform are well established and unequivocal. We also note that reform was secured in Ireland through the 2018 Domestic Violence Act and that legislative passage of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill at Westminster is ongoing to secure reform in England and Wales.

The consultation document acknowledges that while the UNCRC defines a child as being under the age of 18 years, the law in Northern Ireland currently allows child marriage and child civil partnerships for 16 and 17 year olds (where parental consent is granted). NICCY notes that in discussion with the Commissioner’s Youth Panel, young people expressed concern that children up to age of 18 should be afforded full protection in this area and that this obligation was not diminished by different thresholds for consent in other areas of a young person’s life which are noted by the Department, including the age of consent to sex which is 16 years. As the Committee on the Rights of the Child has specifically highlighted in regard to adolescence, as children rightly have increasing agency as they grow older their “right to exercise increasing levels of responsibilities does not obviate the State’s obligation to guarantee protection” to them as they move into teenage years and adulthood.1 towards

The Department recognises concerns that the requirement for parental consent does not effectively address concerns regarding the use pressure and coercion in child marriage and indeed such concerns were also expressed by members of our Youth Panel who drew attention to the importance of fully informed and free choices being made regarding marriage and that barriers to this may come from parental as well as wider family and community expectations, pressures and coercion. The Department notes that girls and young women are disproportionately subject to child marriage, highlighting concerns regarding the impact of this on their access to education, training and employment as well the effect on their physical and mental health and increased risk of exposure to harm and violence. While such concerns are often associated with global trends and data, the figures provided demonstrate an established pattern across reported years that girls are significantly (two to three times) more likely than boys to be affected by child marriage in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Executive is currently consulting on its strategy to address violence against women and girls and we note that, in line with international standards, this should address all forms of violence and harmful practices against girls and women, including child marriage.

We also note with interest that the figures indicate that each year, a substantial number of child marriages in Northern Ireland, indeed the majority of these marriages, involve children who do not reside within the jurisdiction. NICCY has been made aware of concerns that the current legal position (which presents a lower legal threshold than that in the Republic of Ireland) may lead to an increase in child marriages taking place in Northern Ireland and would welcome further detail regarding this data.

Koulla Yiasouma

Commissioner for Children and W: Belfast