Amman Center of Human Rights Studies Report on Early and Forced Marriage.
The four members of the International Relations Unit, Danny Casprini, Elena Manfellotto, Keenan Roarty, and Matthias Tassier, attended the 2nd National Institute on Early and Forced Marriage in Amman Jordan, from April 10th to 12th 2018 organized by the American-based company Vital Voices. ACHRS was also represented by fifteen women leaders who have participated in previous ACHRS events and programs.
The main topics tackled were consequences and causes of child marriage and proposed solutions in order to prevent early marriages. The conference consisted of lively and informative discussions on different aspects of early and forced marriages from legal, social, cultural, and economic perspectives. Experts in the field contributed their own unique perspectives and experiences on each issue. Specific case studies were analyzed by all participants, and discussed in both small groups and large groups.
Early and forced marriages are far too common in Jordan. UNICEF estimates that 9% of Jordanian women are married under the age of 18. When one only considers Syrian refugees, that number goes up to 32%.Reasons for early and forced marriages include culture, poverty, and desire to give responsibility for girls to new families, While Jordanian law technically requires woman to be 18 to marry, there are written exceptions which allow minors to get married if the marriage serves an “economic, social, or security interest.” 90% of girls who marry early marry under pressure of their parents.
Although all child marriages are bad, there are also ways in which one can address it in the short time. Marriages involve marriage contracts, and it is important that any girl who gets married under the age of 18 stipulate in her contract that she will continue her education. There are also discrepancies for how one currently interprets the law. Some judges consider the age of 18 to be “17 plus one day”, a problem with a huge loophole! Other judges interpret the age 18 in the lunar calendar context, allowing the marriage of girls as young as 14.
Amman Center for Human Rights Studies is excited for the chance to build off the results off the conference, and design new proposals with the network created from the conference.
