The debate over the legal marriage age has again taken centre stage. In 2022, when Govinda Koirala Bandi was the Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, he announced the government was preparing to lower the legal age of marriage. The argument was that it was nonsensical to allow people to gain citizenship at 16 and voting rights at 18 but restrict marriage until 20. Child rights and women's rights activists were unconvinced and opposed it, asserting that this would reverse years of efforts made to combat child marriage. Three years later, the government is now in the final stages of registering an amendment bill to revise the current laws to either reduce the minimum marriage age or ease the penalties for child marriage.

The Criminal Procedure Code 2017 states that establishing a sexual relationship with a girl under 18, even with her consent, is regarded as rape. Likewise, the code stipulates that a marriage can only be legally concluded when both parties are at least 20. The government has concluded that the current age limit has increased rape cases as hundreds of men who get marriage in consent, with girls below 18, have been charged with child marriage and rape. Although this is true, we must not forget why the law was implemented in the first place.

According to Nepal’s National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), Nepal, at 35 percent, has the second-highest child marriage rate in South Asia. Child marriage affects 5.4 million adolescents, including 1.5 million under the age of 15, according to the UN. These marriages persist even as the practice was made illegal in 1963 and a national strategy was endorsed to end it by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. The Civil Code 2017, which set 20 as the minimum marriage age, was part of the effort. While the government argues that the 20-year limit is not suitable to our context, mainly in Madhesh and Karnali provinces, they are forgetting that child marriage is highest in these provinces. Teenage pregnancy is highest in Karnali Province, at 21 percent, followed by Madhesh Province, at 20 percent.

While matching the legal age for marriage with the voting age, the authorities fail to recognise the differing nature of political socialisation that comes with voting and marriage. These two aren’t comparable as they call for different things. For many girls, marrying early prevents them from education and exposes them to domestic violence and mental health problems. Fearing this, teenage girls from eight districts of Madhesh Province sent petitions to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli last month to maintain the minimum marriage age at 20 years, arguing that 18-year-olds are not physically or mentally mature enough to handle familial and societal responsibilities. Further, just because some countries have set the legal marriage age as 18 doesn’t mean we have to follow.

Without awareness, just keeping the legal marriageable age at 20 doesn’t automatically guarantee the end of child marriage. Further, this has also been used for parental control in cases where consensual partners have agreed to marry. But lowering the age could also force early marriage. So the government should avoid making a sweeping decision that will have far-reaching consequences without enough homework. This issue necessitates the involvement of different stakeholders and broader discussions. For now, it is better to stick with what we have unless we find a better, balanced alternative. There is no need to rush.