A law to prevent child marriage went into effect in Germany two years ago. It was designed to keep minors from marrying, but a new study by the women's rights group Terre des Femmes says its effect has been marginal.
Terre the Femmes put on a staged forced wedding as part of a protest against the practice. Berlin, October 25, 2015.
Germany's well-intentioned "Law to Combat Child Marriage" went into effect on July 22, 2017. At the time, the chances that the law would protect underage children from forced marriage looked good, with the new law setting the legal age for marriage in Germany at 18.
Moreover, it was designed to allow judges in Germany to retroactively annul underage marriages that took place outside the country even before the law was on the books, if the person in question was between the ages of 16 and 17 at the time of the wedding. In the event that a person was under the age of 16 at the time, the marriage would be automatically annulled.
Yet, the true efficacy of the law has been negligible. At least, that's what a new study by the women's rights group Terre des Femmes has shown. The group's figures show that at least 813 child marriages have been registered across the country since the law went into effect, yet only 10 of those marriages have been annulled. [Deutsche Welle] Read more
