In what has been a tumultuous couple of weeks, some good news are worth highlighting: last week, the Dominican Republic officially outlawed child marriage. Child marriage is a form of forced marriage in which at least one of the parties, usually the woman, is under 18 years old. According to the United Nations, one in every five girls is married before reaching the age of 18, and in the least developed countries that number climbs to 40%. Globally, an estimated 12 million girls are married every year. Last Wednesday, the Dominican President Luis Abinader signed the ban into law, joining the list of countries in which child marriage is prohibited.
According to UNICEF, the Dominican Republic currently has one of Latin America’s highest rates of child marriage. Government figures show that over a third of women between the ages of 20 and 24 had been married or formed part of an early informal union before they turned 18 years old. “Child marriage and early unions are seen as normal in society. It is driven by machismo that sees the role of a woman to be just a mother and wife,” Rosa Elcarte, UNICEF’s representative in the country, explained.
Child marriage contributes to higher levels of abuse and birth complications for girls, impedes them from getting jobs or an education, and increases levels of intergenerational poverty. Poverty, in turn, contributes to the proliferation of child marriage as parents marry off the young daughters that they cannot afford to maintain. According to a 2017 UNICEF and World Bank report, a ban on child marriage in the Dominican Republic was expected to decrease the country’s poverty rate by 10%.
Last week’s ban is certainly a step in the right direction. “Our girls and adolescents will be protected … and cannot be forced into marriage in their childhood or adolescence, which in the past was often carried out by parents and legally allowed,” Sonia Hernandez, an associate director with the International Justice Mission, said. In order to actually eradicate child marriage, however, the ban must be accompanied by cultural changes that empower girls and women. Supporting girls to stay in school and find jobs, for example, will help break the cycle of poverty that contributes to child marriage in the first place.
Women’s rights activists are hopeful. The ban was passed along with a decree which declared the combat of violence against girls and women of high national interest, and created the Cabinet for Women, Adolescents and Girls under the Ministry of Women. “The enactment of this law will help to directly increase the opportunities for girls’ human development,” Virginia Saiz of Plan Internacional said. While there is much work to be done, we applaud the passage of the child marriage ban in the Dominican Republic and hope that other countries, in the region and beyond, follow suit in protecting their girls and women.