Spain to keep minimum marriage age at 14
Spain said Thursday it has no immediate plans to raise the minimum legal age for marriage from 14, one of the lowest in Europe, to bring it in line with UN recommendations.
"What I want to say very clearly is that, at the moment, we are not planning any legislative change to the penal code" about the minimum age of marriage, Health Minister Leire Pajin told Spanish public television.
She said however that there is "a technical discussion of a law that we want to present to protect minors... and in that discussion, children's organisations point out that the United Nations" recommends raising the minumum age to 16 from 14 in Spain.
"Spain is one of the few countries in this region where (the minimum marriage age) is so low and it is a demand of children's protection organisations each time there is a debate on the protection of minors, but it is not an objective" of the government, she added.
Marriage at 14 is legal in Spain but only with the permission of a judge and the consent of the family.
A total of 326 children aged 15 or younger have married in the period 2000-2008, the Europa Press news agency said, quoting official statistics.
Spain leading daily El Pais said experts on the committee studying child protection laws have recommended to the government it raise the age to 16 in line with the view of the UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Yolanda Roman, of charity Save the Children, said "consent at that age (of 14) is relative, because it is a sensitive age in which the emotional and psychological development is not complete.
"There are situations of paternal or spousal domination that the child does not dare to question, so it seems opportune and necessary to raise the minimum age for marriage," she told El Pais.
Last October, a 10-year-old Romanian girl gave birth in southern Spain, provoking alarm and outrage throughout the country.
Spain's socialist government last year introduced new legislation that allows girls from age 16 to have abortions provided they inform their families or if they face "a clear risk of family violence, threats, pressure or mistreatment."
© 2010 AFP
------------------
Waiting for your comments
link:
http://www.expatica.com/es/news/spanish-news/spain-to-keep-minimum-marri...
I think there's probably two things effecting this: 1) the Gypsy population. 2) The Catholic population.
And finally 326 children in 8 years from a population of 40 million.... and most of those 326 children were probably Gypsies, therefore not really living under the laws and mores of Spain...Well I can see why the government probably doesn't consider it a pressing concern.
It wasn't that long ago that people died much (MUCH) earlier. Perhaps thats why ages were lower in times gone by.
You are the mods' favorite, remember? ;-)
This article really came a shock to me. Philippines was a Spanish colony for 333 years but I don't think we had adopted this kind of behavior or culture. As far as i remember, our values were adopted from them and it's the conservative type. That's why i was really surprise about this article. It wouldn't be a surprise for me if it had been from UK or US or any other liberated countries. Oh my, time really had changed even culture and people! :-( what's next?
WK, What did you play at in the 9th Std?
BTW the article was quite astonishing!!
lol
Mod seems again hyperactive for deleting my post
That's right edifis...
I was punished by my teachers for acting naughty in standard 9th when I was 14 years old...
This is so unfair :((
12 YO kids will be permitted to have sex in India!
They grow up so fast in India!
I was still playing jackstone at age 14 :-(
"Gypsies abroad tarnish Romania’s external image:
‘In Berlin, Paris or London the European media picture Gypsies from Romania holding children and begging or stealing, either on Champs Elysees
or Oxford Street. For the West they are “Romanian citizens”. (…) Romania will never be able to tackle the problems of this minority on its own. It should
be considered a European problem to be solved by a special budget for education and socialisation, for integration in the European way of life and
removing the members of this community from the nomadic life style that can lead to delinquency. Somebody has to put these points to Europe with courage and patience, but who and to whom, when nobody seems to listen?"
https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/gber/pdf/vol3/issue2/Commentarie2.pdf
PS:
- Where are you, Antonescu?
http://www.ushmm.org/research/center/publications/details.php?content=2000-01
Don't miss understand me but please when we read the topic we see the Spanish government is not willing to change the law regarding the age.
On the other hand KSA are about to obligate people to deal with new marriage contracts defining the age of the new wife and prevent whom are below 18 to get married.
too bad this link in arabic.
Something interesting
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2-similar-draft-bills-on-child-abuse-lead-to-confusion/articleshow/7400208.cms
"According to UNICEF's "State of the World's Children-2009" report, 47% of India's women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18, with 56% in rural areas.[15] The report also showed that 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India.[16]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage
India
Official age for marriage
girl : 18
boy : 21
Drac, very interesting article. I have heard about the theory of gypsies coming originally from India before. I wonder what the story is.....
LincolnPirate said It should be forbidden! No ...
It should be forbidden! No matter what age.
Read more: http://www.qatarliving.com/node/1609103#comment-1770922#ixzz1DCastVys
Lol...shiver me timbers...
Your source, Mohd Abdu:
http://www.ecosensorium.org/2010/05/child-marriage-causes-and-consequences.html
child marriage, life expectancy, birth rate, poverty,puberty,International Institute for Population Sciences, African societies, Rights and Welfare of the Child 1990, rticle XII- Child Marriages and brothels of girls and boys, divorce, elimination of gender gaps,abolition of child marriages
That poor girl comes from an uneducated Gypsy family and this why this happened.
http://sports.rightpundits.com/?p=5394
Regular Romanians are a different story, one_shot , read more on the Internet if curious.
Take a look around you, Arab girls start having *** very early and only because of some lucky circumstances you don't have such "surprises".
Still underage pregnancies in Middle East are common and this should worry you a little bit.
For example:"Teenage pregnancy in Saudi Arabia comes as the 69th in the world ranking and the live birth rate at that age has an incidence of 38 per 1000"
Source:
http://www.mejfm.com/mejfmOct09_vol7-iss9/contemporary.htm
PS:
Gypsies originated in Northern India, from whence they spread throughout Europe and the Middle East.
http://www.scottishgypsies.co.uk/early.html
You know the old saying..
"Marriage makes the world go round"
It should be forbidden! No matter what age.
Should be Minimum 23+
It should be raised to 40 to protect us men
It should be at least 18.
Brit, it's about raising from 14 to 16 :P
How many 10 year olds get married in Spain? Not many.
The post was about raising the age limit to 14. To which i agree with Baldrick...
Brit...just wondering how recurring a once-off can be...
"Marriage at 14 is legal in Spain but only with the permission of a judge and the consent of the family."
I don't have a problem with that. It's their country, let them govern it how they feel fit, and by putting in caveats like above they make it difficult, but not impossible.
The issue of the 10 year old was a one off. the main thing is that a judge has to give consent for the marriage..
and we are not talking about single teenagers here.
we are talking about legal marriage .
It is indeed shocking.
Last October, a 10-year-old Romanian girl gave birth in southern Spain, provoking alarm and outrage throughout the country.