I am delighted that the House of Commons today approved my Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill at Third Reading, which means that it has now passed all of its stages in the Commons, and will head to the House of Lords for final approval.
After that, my bill will become law.
I am proud to have brought forward this piece of legislation which will ban child marriage in all its forms across England and Wales. Child marriage is an extremely harmful practice – resulting in loss of educational and work opportunities for the victim, higher risk of domestic and sexual abuse, and worse life outcomes for the victim and any children they have.
However, until my Marriage Bill, there was no way of criminalising people who arrange child marriages – unless it was possible to prove that they were forced, which is very rarely the case.
My bill means that all marriages involving children in England and Wales will now be banned, and those who arrange them can face incredibly serious criminal sanctions, including up to 7 years in prison.
This bill also covers cases where the child is taken abroad to be married, which we know is a huge problem. That will be captured in the criminal offence, and I will be working with government to ensure that the police and prosecuting authorities have the power and knowledge to correctly investigate and prosecute these cases.
I am hugely grateful to colleagues and the Girls Not Brides campaign who have supported me throughout this process, including their brave ambassadors who told their stories so powerfully, and demonstrated exactly why this law is so important.
Here are some of the articles which outline why this piece of legislation is so important:
https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/in-the-news/ban-child-marriage-law-uk/
