Five lessons for transforming child marriage laws we heard from experts

Child marriage remains one of the most persistent and harmful practices affecting the rights and futures of girls globally. Every year, 12 million girls are married before they turn 18. This practice cuts short childhoods, curtails education, increases risks of violence and early pregnancy, and diminishes lifelong opportunities for girls. It also undermines efforts to achieve gender equality, public health, and economic development.

Why legal reform – and why now?

Veronica Kamanga Njikho, Lead Prevention of Harmful Practices program, UNICEF HQ noted that laws that set the minimum age of marriage at 18 send a powerful message: child marriage is a human rights violation that must end. These laws are vital foundations, but without implementation, political will, resources, and community engagement, they risk being symbolic rather than protective. Ending child marriage requires more than legal text – it demands multi-sectoral coordination, gender-transformative systems, and the meaningful participation of adolescents. Legal harmonisation and safeguards against unintended consequences, such as criminalising adolescent agency, are essential. And the time to act is now, as we head toward global milestones like CSW70 and the Beijing+30 review.

In a recent webinar co-hosted by the UNFPA,-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage, and Equality Now, legal and policy experts from around the world came together to explore these themes in depth. The conversation focused on good practices, emerging risks, and strategies to strengthen legal frameworks protecting girls from child marriage.

Here are five key lessons from the webinar we must remember in the movement towards ending child marriage:

1. Align Legal Reform with Political and Social Systems

“Laws that are not backed by functioning systems are paper tigers.” — Beatrice Duncan, Independent Jurist and former UN Women Advisor. “Countries that have free, compulsory education, not just in name but in practice – have much stronger legislative outcomes. You’re not just passing a law; you’re creating a protective environment.”

Laws are most effective when situated within a supportive ecosystem. Countries with integrated systems – such as coordinated education, social protection, and legal frameworks – see greater success in reducing child marriage. Panelists highlighted the role of free and compulsory education, conditional cash transfers, and women in leadership as enabling factors for effective legal change. Strong Gender Ministries and committed Ministries of Justice are essential to anchor and operationalise laws. Without coordination across these institutions, even the best-drafted legislation can fail at the point of implementation.

2. Harmonise Contradictory Laws to Close Legal Loopholes

Many countries set the legal age of marriage at 18, yet allow exceptions under religious, customary, or personal status laws. This undermines protections and weakens enforcement. As Duncan stressed, harmonisation across statutory, customary, and religious legal systems is essential to ensure the law is protective, not symbolic.

Regional and international treaties such as the Maputo Protocol, CEDAW, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child can be powerful accountability tools when national systems fall short.

3. Shift focus from Criminalisation to Adolescent Empowerment

“Protection must not come at the cost of agency.” — Madhu Mehra, Founder, Partners for Law in Development (India). “In recent years, we’ve seen that the law is increasingly being used to punish adolescent consensual relationships… So instead of being a protective mechanism, the law becomes a tool of control – especially over girls’ sexuality, and especially when those relationships cross caste or religious boundaries.”

Laws must avoid conflating protection with punishment. In India, the misuse of child marriage and sexual offences laws to criminalise consensual adolescent relationships has had harmful consequences, especially for girls from marginali sed communities. Instead of serving as a shield, the law often becomes a weapon of control. A better approach centers adolescents as rights-holders and provides them with choices – through education, counselling, shelter, and legal support. The law should enable informed decision-making, not restrict it.

4. Embed Laws Within Child-Friendly, Gender-Transformative Systems

Jacky Repila, Senior Gender Advisor at Girls Not Brides, emphasised that legal reform must be grounded in operational clarity and local realities.

“One of the things we’re learning at Girls Not Brides is the importance of aligning the technical with the political… the politics that pass a law are not the politics that support its implementation.” Systems should answer critical questions: Who is responsible? What happens when a violation occurs? How do adolescents report violations safely?

In many places, the absence of referral pathways, trained responders, or multi-sectoral coordination leaves girls unprotected – even when the law is on their side. National coordination bodies, local committees, and community engagement mechanisms all play a critical role in bridging this gap. Repila also stressed the need to strategically engage customary and religious leaders, who often wield significant influence over community norms and practices.

5. Anticipate and Prevent Unintended Consequences

“When girls’ voices, feminist expertise, and grounded evidence are part of legal design, the results are more protective, more realistic, and more sustainable.” José-Roberto Luna Manzanero, UNFPA’s Global Lead on Adolescent Girls and Ending Child Marriage, concluded the session by urging advocates to learn from past reforms. In many regions, child marriage laws have unintentionally contributed to greater risk by criminalising adolescent sexuality, particularly in contexts with informal unions or legal pluralism.

“Very often, when we’re going through the legal reforms at the country level, sometimes the unintended consequences are not taken into consideration from the onset. Because child marriage laws are connected to the legal age of marriage, but also to the legal age of consent. That, in some contexts, could be used as a way to actually criminalize the sexuality of adolescents.” Laws must be designed with nuance, with input from feminist and youth-led organisations, and accompanied by comprehensive implementation frameworks that address social and economic drivers of child marriage.

Looking ahead

This webinar highlighted the growing consensus that minimum age laws are a necessary foundation – but not a final solution. Ending child marriage requires robust, inclusive, and enforceable legal systems that respond to the lived realities of adolescents, especially girls.

As global actors prepare for CSW69 and other key moments on the Beijing+30 timeline, these insights must shape advocacy and policy. Legal reform should be a catalyst – not a checkbox.