Preventing and legislating to eradicate: a regional meeting to advance action against child, early and forced marriages and unions in Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean carry a profound debt to girls and adolescents. According to UNICEF, one in five girls in the region is married or in a union before the age of 18. Behind this figure lie interrupted education pathways and life plans cut short. Child, early and forced marriages and unions (CEFMU) and sexual violence are mutually reinforcing phenomena that form part of a continuum of violence.

Against this backdrop, on 29 and 30 June, Equality Now was in Panama, participating as part of the ALIADAS Platform against CEFMU, in the high-level event “From commitment to action: partnerships, evidence and financing to guarantee the rights and wellbeing of girls and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean”, convened by UNFPA. Over two days, we joined discussions with more than 80 representatives from governments, United Nations agencies, inter-American mechanisms, international cooperation bodies and civil society organisations.

We took part in this meeting to contribute our experience and evidence on the issue. We brought forward a message that we have long championed: when addressing child marriages and unions, legislation is essential, but prevention and a human rights-based approach are what ensure that legislation truly works.

Laws as a starting point for eradicating CEFMU

An increasing number of countries in the region have adopted legal frameworks prohibiting child marriage, an achievement that deserves recognition and protection. However, legislation alone is not enough. When laws are not accompanied by comprehensive policies, formal marriages are often replaced by informal unions, allowing the practice to continue. Addressing the structural causes requires timely and disaggregated data, adequate funding and coordination among institutions. As was repeatedly emphasised throughout the meeting, every legal provision must be translated into real public investment.

In this context, Equality Now presented comparative findings, barriers and recommendations for the development of legal frameworks on CEFMU in five countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. These findings stem from research conducted by Ana Elena Obando, Legal Adviser at Equality Now. We also shared a preliminary version of the legislative guidelines we are currently developing to support States in implementing these frameworks, translating international human rights standards into practical tools for legislators and for those responsible for enforcing and implementing the law.

The importance of ensuring the participation of girls and adolescents in decisions that affect them

Girls and adolescents are rights holders and key actors in decisions that affect their lives. During the meeting, they called for legislation that prioritises prevention and education rather than prohibition alone. They requested access to information that would enable them to identify risks and seek support, and demanded to be consulted regularly on the policies that shape their futures. Ensuring meaningful and sustained participation helps guarantee that public responses reflect their actual needs.

Many of those needs are now also shaped by digital environments, where some of the dynamics that sustain child marriages and unions are amplified and presented as harmless, despite constituting forms of sexual and digital violence. Strengthening girls’ rights and online safety is therefore part of the same prevention agenda.

Structural inequalities require intersectional responses

CEFMU cannot be explained as individual choices or as practices inherent to particular cultures or communities. They are the result of structural gender inequalities and power relations that restrict girls’ and adolescents’ rights, autonomy and opportunities. Poverty, limited access to education, healthcare and information on sexual and reproductive rights, as well as social norms that control sexuality and assign girls roles linked to marriage, motherhood and caregiving, all contribute to their persistence.

These inequalities do not affect all girls and adolescents equally. Those living in rural areas or belonging to Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities face multiple forms of discrimination and, consequently, greater barriers to accessing rights, services and protection mechanisms. Understanding and addressing CEFMU therefore requires an intersectional perspective capable of identifying how gender, age, socioeconomic status, racism and geography intersect to deepen inequality. Without timely and disaggregated data, many of these realities remain invisible, and what is not documented becomes far more difficult to prevent.

Communicating without reinforcing stereotypes

Digital platforms and the media play a decisive role. They can either reinforce the stereotypes that sustain CEFMU or help challenge and dismantle them. Raising awareness among journalists and communicators and promoting ethical, rights-based and stigma-free reporting is therefore essential.

In this regard, we shared the guide “Reporting on CEFMU: Keys to ethical communication”, developed in partnership with Feminacida. The publication offers practical guidance for reporting on these issues with accuracy and sensitivity, and generated significant interest among organisations from several countries interested in adapting and disseminating it.

Preventing and supporting rather than criminalising

The strongest consensus to emerge from the event was the rejection of purely punitive approaches. Criminalising child, early and forced marriages and unions does not, in itself, protect girls. In many cases, it leads to further victimisation and ultimately targets adolescents themselves, as well as their mothers, families or peers.

For this reason, priority must first be given to prevention, comprehensive sexuality education, the transformation of social norms that sustain and normalise these practices, and the restoration of rights so that every girl can rebuild and pursue her own life plan.

This approach requires coordinated action among multiple stakeholders, including families, healthcare systems, educational institutions and judicial authorities.

A regional call to action

The meeting concluded with a Regional Call to Action that reaffirmed a shared objective: accelerating the prevention and elimination of sexual violence, adolescent and child pregnancy, and CEFMU through comprehensive responses grounded in evidence and shaped by the participation of girls and adolescents themselves. Partnerships, evidence and financing emerged as the three pillars of the discussion and the conditions necessary to ensure that commitments move beyond words on paper.

At Equality Now, we reaffirm that commitment. We will continue working alongside our partners and allies to ensure that no girl or adolescent sees her life plans cut short.

Join the conversation and support our work

Follow us on LinkedIn: Equality Now Latin America and the Caribbean