Child marriage ban in the Philippines

This Thursday, a law was enacted preventing the marriage of children, where one in six young people marry before the age of 18, confirming the illegality of marriage between minors.

President Rodrigo Duterte was the one in charge of signing and revealing the law. This new regulation contemplates prison sentences of up to 12 years, for adults who make the decision to marry or live with a young person under 18 years of age.

Likewise, this punishment will be applied to people who organize or formalize marriage with minors.

The British Organization Plan International, ensures that the Philippines is the country that occupies the twelfth place in the world, in which underage marriages take place.

Ingrained social practices and sexual orientation disparity make change problematic.

The law indicates that, The State considers the marriage of minors as a formation that includes the misuse of children, since it corrupts and degrades the natural value and dignity of minors. This law is consistent with the international board on the rights of women and children.

Despite this, some parts of the law were canceled for a year to give a period of transition to Muslim and indigenous society, in which the marriage of minors is a common act.

UNICEF in its report last year, indicated that more than 500,000 young men and women in general were married in their childhood. The most significant levels were from South Asia and sub- Saharan Africa. However, these data are currently in decline worldwide.