The right to marry at the age of 16 is a loophole that should go because it encourages child abuse and exploitation, former chancellor Sajid Javid said. Abolition of marriage for 16 and 17-year-olds has been a goal of campaigners who say it allows sexual exploitation of girls too young to make such decisions. However, few teenage girls now aspire to marry at such a young age. Mr Javid said yesterday: ‘The British Government is working tirelessly to end child marriage in the developing world and yet our own laws are permitting child marriage by the back door. ‘Indeed, when Bangladesh lowered the legal age of marriage from 18 to 16, ministers there were said to have directly pointed to our laws to justify their move.

Source: Daily Mail June 11, 2021 21:03 UTC