Colombia’s congress has voted to change a law that allowed minors to get married with parental consent.
The proposal would make the minimum age for marriage 18, and seeks to protect the rights and development opportunities for minors.
Currently, the country’s civil code allows person as young as 14 years old to get married with parental consent.
Child marriage remains a widespread practice worldwide and affects around 12 million girls per year, according to the UN’s agency for children, UNICEF.
But there’s been a global drop in child marriages over the past few years, according to the agency’s statistics.
“Ten years ago, one in four young women aged 20 to 24 was married as a child.
In Latin America, poverty is the main factor leading to minors getting married, according to UNICEF. »