BOGOTÁ — In the high school class in Pivijay, in northern Colombia, the students noticed that one of the girls was no longer showing up at school. One of the classmates recalls finding out a bit later where the girl had gone. “They had married her off to a much older man, with her parents’ consent,” said Laura*, of the missing classmate. “Later we saw her pregnant and that’s the last we heard of her.”
Other girls living in Pivijay, all aged 15 to 17 years, say it is not unusual for teenage girls there to wed men twice or three times their age. This has led several girls, here and in other parts in Colombia, to help launch MIUT (Matrimonio infantil y las uniones tempranas), a schools-based project that informs local communities of the implications of underage marriage.
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The grim phenomenon of child brides has been mostly associated in modern times with the Middle East, but appears to have become increasingly popular in Colombia in recent years. The country has tried in vain seven different times to pass legislation to set a minimum age for marriage. Parliament is on its eighth attempt now, with a bill presented by legislator Jennifer Pedraza setting 18 as the minimum age for marriage currently under debate. Colombia’s Civil Code presently allows marriage at 14 if the parents allow it.
A UNICEF report from 2022 found that about one-quarter of all women in Latin America and the Caribbean had their first marriage before the age of 18. In Colombia the figure is 23%, with 5% of all marriages involving girls aged below 15 years. These appear to be more frequent in less developed, poorer and rural regions.
Solutions beyond the law
Laura, Sara, Natalia, Andrea and Ana began their activism in 2019, joining a reproductive rights project, Valiente, organized by the NGO Profamilia and the Canadian embassy. The project involves participants speaking at school and beyond to inform other girls and their families of sexual and reproductive rights, including the right to refuse marriage as a young girl.
Marta Royo, managing director of Profamilia, says that 90% of such marriages are someone else’s decision. Parents decide to marry their daughters to older men “so families can be better off.”
What’s being imposed on them is a family they never chose in the first place.
Sara, from Dibulla In La Guajira, says people used to consider this a practice of the Wayúu, one of Colombia’s native communities: “But no, it also happens… outside this community and tends to be normalized. Which is why we decided to create our initiative.”
Inevitably, child brides typically wind up pregnant soon after the marriage. Olga Lucía Restrepo Espinosa of the University of Antioquia medical faculty puts it simply: “What’s being imposed on them is a family they never chose in the first place.”
Vulnerability on vulnerability
Pediatrician Juan David Albarracín notes that by Colombian law, any sexual conduct prior to 14 years of age constitutes sexual violence, which means that “all pregnancies at 14 are automatically a crime.”
While teen pregnancies have fallen in recent years in Colombia (from 38 to 24.7 births per 1,000 mothers under 19 ), it is still far too high, with just over 38,200 girls aged 10 to 17 becoming mothers in Colombia last year. Moreover, there an uneven distribution across the country, with poorer and rural areas with much higher rates.
Legislation to raise the marriage age is just part of the solution for eradicating the practice.
As in other countries, money is a big issue in what are effectively forced marriages. But girls may also wed a man to escape a home where there is violence or sexual abuse. Still, says Albarracín, “you cannot have one violation leading to another violation.”
While sexist attitudes remained a problem in Colombia, of the University of Antioquia’s Restrepo Espinosa notes that child marriages were principally about endemic poverty. “Without schooling, these girls can hardly count on fair working conditions that will take them out of their extremely precarious conditions.”
This means legislation to raise the marriage age is just part of the solution for eradicating the practice. Clara Restrepo, a Medellín gynecologist, says a support system must be built up around girls and young women. “It’s no use banning child marriages if they’re not going to provide preventive protocols and attention when they happen.”
Restrepo says providing poor families with both healthcare and education are essential to break the cycle: “We must support the life projects of girls, who will be tomorrow’s women.”
*Not their real names.
