While the number of underage marriages – mostly prompted by pregnancy – has decreased in Lithuania over the last couple of years, the UN says there should be none.
In Lithuania, one can marry from the age of 18, but the Civil Code allows the court to lower the age of marriage in cases where, for example, minors are expecting a child. The According to the State Data Agency, 21 under-age couples married in 2022.
Edita Žiobienė, the ombudswoman for children’s rights, says Lithuania has received a note from the UN that such underage marriage should not exist.
“We received a note that there should be no marriages involving children under 18. The law allows it, so the UN is suggesting that we review the law because it should not be like this,” Žiobienė tells LRT RADIO.
Minors cannot give consent
Inga Kudinavičiūtė-Michailovienė, a professor at the Law School of Mykolas Romeris University (MRU), agrees. According to the lawyer, the Civil Code, which was revised fourteen years ago, does not provide for a minimum age for marriage.
“We are opening a floodgate. Young kids, left unattended, quickly become young parents. There should be some kind of regulatory change that is in line with criminal law,” she says, adding that in some cases marriage is a way for people to avoid responsibility for having sex with a minor.
Vaida Tretjakova, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology, agrees that underage marriages should not be allowed because minors cannot give consent.
“There are countries where it is strictly forbidden to marry someone under 18 because the child cannot give consent. If they cannot give consent and still get married, it is a forced marriage. In the vast majority of cases, underage girls have children with much older men. There are perhaps only five percent of cases where a seventeen-year-old has a child with a teenage peer,” shares the sociologist.
Changes would not solve the problem?
Zita Tomilinienė, director of the Crisis Pregnancy Centre, says around 15 pregnant teenagers turn to the centre each year. However, very few of them consider marriage, not least because fathers do not want to take responsibility for the child.
“If there are men who take responsibility and want to start a family, they should be greeted, not forbidden to do it. […] Forbidding a couple to legalise their relationship is not right, I think,” says Tomilinienė.
According to Ilma Skuodienė, director of the State Service for Protection of Child Rights and Adoption, there were 217 pregnant teenagers in Lithuania in 2017, while last year there were 62. Three of the pregnant teenagers were under 15.
According to Skuodienė, the UN’s observation on underage marriage is a prompt to strengthening unwanted pregnancy prevention. However, attention should also be paid to what motivates underage mothers to enter into early relationships.
“Surveys and studies show that some teenage mothers did not get the attention they needed in the family, so they wanted to start their own family. Banning underage marriage will not solve the problem, I think,” she adds.
Tomilinienė, of the Crisis Pregnancy Centre NGO, says that parents should spend more time with their growing children and build a trusting relationship.
“Kids who come to the centre say, my mum will kill me, my dad will kick me out of the house. Parents need to be the people a teenager can trust, even when they are uncomfortable and disappointed. Building such a relationship is a challenge for both parents and children. Boys in particular need to be educated to take a responsible approach to starting a new life,” she says.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
