Serbia is working on an initiative to amend Family law to define and recognise child marriage as a form of human trafficking, as between 22 and 50% of Serbian girls get married before 18.
A recent report from UNICEF found that over half of girls from Roma settlements in Serbia and 22% of girls from low-income families get married before age 18. Even more concerning is that 16% of Roma girls get married before 15, and 5% give birth at this age.
“It is often discussed in public to which extent the state has a right to interfere with the private sphere such as marriage or family. However, the harmful consequences of child marriages do indeed give the state to take every possible measure to stop those consequences,” Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue Minister Tomislav Žigmanov told RTS.
One in five girls worldwide is married before they come of age. In Serbia, Roma and girls from low-income families are the most vulnerable.
Authorities warn that such marriages are the most serious form of violation of children’s rights, depriving them of a right to childhood, education, work, and a healthy upbringing.
“Today, 22% of young women from the poorest households and 56% from Roma settlements get married before their 18th birthday. What makes Serbia different are the efforts to deal with such complex violations of children’s rights,” Dejana Kostadinova, the director of UNICEF in Serbia, told RTS.
According to data from the Justice Ministry, 75 convictions were handed down in 2021, 18 for the criminal offence of extramarital union with a minor, while last year, there were 62.
“Child marriage can hide many criminal acts, such as mediation in prostitution, forced marriage, extramarital union with a minor, neglect and abuse of a minor, human trafficking,” Serbia’s Justice Minister Maja Popović has warned.
“As long as we witness a single child forced marriage as a drastic threat not only to women’s and children’s rights but also as a form of gender-based violence, our common struggle and efforts are not over,” said Maja Gojković, Deputy Prime Minister and President of the Coordination Body for Gender Equality.
(Milena Antonijević | EURACTIV.rs )
Source: euractiv.com
