Philippines Bans Child Marriage

Philippines – In the Philippines, a law was passed to ban child marriage on Thursday. President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte signed a law to ban child marriage.

The law makes it illegal to marry a woman under the age of 18. The new law sees child marriage as child abuse. The law also makes it mandatory for schools to teach young girls about the effect of child marriage. Violation of the new law can be punishable by a minimum prison sentence of twelve years.

 Bernadette Herrera, the deputy speaker of the Philippines House of Representatives, said that the new law was passed to end child marriage in the country. Marriage, relationships, and sex with those under the age of 18 will be considered a crime.

 However, the fight continues to raise the age of consent in the country from 12 to 16 years. The age of consent for a child in the Philippines has been 12 for the past 90 years. Many girls in the Philippines were married off before the age of 18 because of the age of consent.

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The abuse of girl children is increasing rapidly in the country because of the age of consent. If someone is caught engaged with a minor, the child is often interrogated. The authorities ask the minor if the act was consensual.

While many laws have been passed over the year to fight child abuse and protect them, the cultural norms and the lack of enforcement have got to change. In 1992, a law was passed against sex with child prostitutes to protect young girls. A law against child pornography was also passed in 2009.