Afghanistan issues sick decree so old men can marry girls | World | News
Afghanistan’s new decree legalizing child marriage and accepting girls’ silence as consent has been criticized. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child criticized this move by the country’s de facto authorities, calling it a “gross and systematic violation of international human rights law.” According to the document called “Principles of Separation Between Spouses”, the decision sees that the silence of a girl who has reached puberty can be interpreted as marital consent.
“Adolescence cannot be considered a basis for adulthood or legal capacity to marry,” the UN said. The committee added: “Child marriage is not only a harmful practice but also a violation of fundamental rights. It exposes girls to increased risks of violence, exploitation, early and forced pregnancy, disruption of education and long-term physical and psychological harm.”
“Any legal framework that normalizes or facilitates the marriage of children violates their rights, undermines their inherent dignity, and deprives them of their autonomy and future opportunities.”
In girls, puberty usually begins between the ages of eight and 13.
According to Afghanistan’s 1977 Civil Code, the legal age for marriage was 16 for girls and 18 for boys. Times.
The UN said: “These measures have deprived millions of Afghan girls of their basic rights, undermined their future economic and social participation, and deepened poverty and inequality across the country.”
The international organization called on the Taliban to “immediately remove all measures that violate children’s rights, strictly prohibit child marriage, and restore the rights of all girls to education, protection, equality and full participation in society, in accordance with Afghanistan’s obligations under international human rights law, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols.”
The report stated that child marriage is a form of forced marriage, given that children “are inherently incapable of giving full, free and informed consent to marriage.”
