SDG5.3: Saudi Arabia bans girls' marriages below 18 years, will others follow

The minimum age of marriage for a girl in Islamic countries varies from 9, 15 and 17 years while boys can be married at 12, 15 and 17 years of age. If the initiative of the Saudi Arab is followed by other Islamic nations, it would significantly contribute in achieving SDG5.

In a path breaking decision, the Saudi Arab government has banned marriages of girls below 18 years of age. However, if any girl below the prescribed age wants to solemnize the marriage she will have to seek permission of the court.

Arab News have reported quoting the official gazette issued by the Saudi Arabia’s Justice Minister Walid Al-Samaani as a memo to all courts and marriage officials to refrain from concluding any marriage contract for those under the age of 18. This age limit is applicable for both boys and girls. 

The gender rights activists have been demanding to increase the age of marriage for girls from existing 15 years to 18 years of age. According to the Islamic rules in several countries, a girl having achieved the age of 15 could be married off. Thus Saudi Arab has become the first among the Islamic nations to officially ban marriages of girls below the age of 18 years with the exception that a permission can be granted by the court with proper justification related to sexual maturity and health of the girl. However, the marriage of girls below 15 years is completely prohibited. 

Earlier, Egypt had raised minimum age of marriage for boys to 18 years and 16 years for girls. The minimum age of marriage for a girl in Islamic countries varies from 9, 15 and 17 years while boys can be married at 12, 15 and 17 years of age. The new law could be a path breaking step in achieving the Gender Equality adopted as the Global Goal 5 under the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations for the year 2030. If followed by other Islamic nations, this could significantly contribute in achieving SDG5. Complete elimination of child marriages and forced marriages by 2030 are commitments of UN's member nations under SDG5.3. 

According to the United Nations so far 193 countries of the world have agreed to end child marriages. However, globally, about 12 million girls are married off every year before they reach the age of 18 years.

‘Girls Not Brides’, an NGO, says that globally one in five girls are married off before the age of 18 years. Presently, more than 650 million women globally were married before the age of 18. The countries have the highest ratio of child marriages are Nigeria, Central African Republic, Chad and Bangladesh, says a recent report of the UNICEF.

Besides social and health problems, the child marriages have economic loss to the nations. The reports of the World Economic Forum suggest that child marriage cost about 1.7 percent loss to the GDP every year (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/the-cost-of-child-marriage). A study of the International Center for Research on Women and the World Bank concluded that by ending the practice of child marriage the world would have up to USD 4 trillion by 2030.