The Portuguese Parliament raises the minimum legal marriage age to 18 – with no exceptions!
04 February 2025
Last Friday (31/01), the Portuguese Parliament approved raising the minimum legal age for marriage from 16 to 18. This decision was accompanied by an amendment to the Law on the Protection of Children and Youth at Risk, adding young people who have been subjected to child, early, or forced marriages to the list of vulnerable groups.
Although this increase in the minimum marriage age may seem logical, the ruling parties (PSD and CDS-PP) voted against the law, arguing that it could push these unions into informality, making them harder to detect and combat.
Contrary to what many European citizens might expect, child, early, or forced marriage remains a semi-hidden issue that continues to affect various communities across Europe. It is closely linked to school dropout rates, social isolation, domestic violence, and human trafficking. Girls are disproportionately affected by this practice.
According to a study conducted between 2015 and 2023, Portugal recorded 836 cases of child, early, or forced marriages, of which 476 involved individuals under the age of 16.
However, these figures are likely much higher due to the informal nature of many unions and the fact that 20% of Portuguese organizations interviewed in the study reported not addressing the issue at all.
While the study does not specify ethnicities, the debate in Parliament often focused on customs within the Roma community, with parties such as CHEGA and CDS-PP referencing these cultural practices in their arguments.
In Western Europe, the minimum legal marriage age is a complex topic. Countries like France, Italy, Spain, and Austria have set the minimum age at 18 but allow exceptions for 16-year-olds with parental or judicial consent. Only Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and now Portugal have eliminated such exceptions.
Despite the sensitivity of the topic, there is a notable lack of data on child marriage in Western Europe, though estimates suggest the practice is relatively rare. The situation becomes more concerning in Eastern Europe. According to UNICEF, 6.22% of women in Eastern Europe were married before the age of 18. This rate is particularly high in Albania (12%), North Macedonia (8%), and Romania (7%).
 | Tomás Pires Globally, in 2022, around 650 million women and girls had been married before turning 18. Although child marriage rates in Portugal and Western Europe are significantly lower than in other parts of the world, European governments must not underestimate this issue. Child marriage doesn’t just steal childhood—it steals futures. Many young brides face lives marked by abuse, unwanted pregnancies, poverty, and isolation. They’re often forced to leave school, cutting off opportunities for education and independence, and some fall into cycles of exploitation, including domestic servitude and trafficking. In Europe, child marriage disproportionately affects marginalized communities, including some Roma, certain migrant, and religious minority groups where traditional norms, gender inequality, and social pressures can perpetuate the practice. For some families, it’s seen as a way to preserve cultural identity, protect family honor, or alleviate economic hardship. Raising Portugal’s legal marriage age to 18 is more than a legislative change; it’s a necessary step to protect vulnerable girls from becoming invisible victims in their own communities. |
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