The Women's Club of the Assembly and the UNICEF representative office in Montenegro called for changes in the law to make marriage illegal for people under 18 years of age.
As announced by the Women's Club, the co-presidents of the Women's Club, Branka Bošnjak and Vesna Pavićević, held a meeting with Šiba Harma, UNICEF regional advisor for gender issues for the Europe and Central Asia region (ECA region), Juan Santander, head of the UNICEF representative office in Montenegro, Sabina Žunić, deputy head of the UNICEF representative office in Montenegro, Nelo Krnić, coordinator of the child rights monitoring program and Jelena Perović, communications coordinator.
The Bosniak, as reported, said that the Women's Club will urgently initiate changes to the legal regulations that will at least formally make it impossible for minors to get married.
"We are aware of the fact that underage marriages in the Roma population are a very complex problem and that human trafficking is carried out there under the auspices of an alleged tradition. That is why this problem should be approached from several sides, education and emancipation are especially important in order to have more independent girls who will have the clearly expressed support of the system to fight this problem together. Changing the legislation will be an important step forward, but it will only be the beginning of the fight against this scourge," Bošnjak said.
Pavićević stated that we live in modern times when freedom and equality are widely propagated, and that today, unfortunately, there are arranged marriages, with the highest rate in the Roma and Egyptian population.
"The state is obliged to ensure that all girls have equal opportunities in education, especially in secondary school, because the fact is that many Roma girls drop out of school due to arranged marriages and pressure from their parents. This has become a custom among the Roma population. Regardless of what may there is also the forced consent of a child to an arranged marriage, neither custom, nor tradition, nor culture can be a justification for such things. In addition to changing the legal regulations, it is necessary to raise the level of awareness of young people, especially young Roma communities, about the importance of education and harmful the consequences of child marriages, which later affect the psychological and physical health of their children," said Pavićević.
Harma stated that banning child marriage and changing social norms in order to more strongly support every girl in Montenegro to fully realize their potential will help the country to reduce violence and poverty and accelerate socio-economic development.
Sandander said that child marriage is a violation of human rights.
"As a society, we must support a healthy childhood and education for every girl and boy so that they can live as productive members of society. This is in the best interest of future generations in Montenegro and necessary to eradicate one of the most difficult forms of discrimination against children," he said. Santander.
Research on multiple indicators of the state of women's and children's rights in Montenegro from 2018 showed that every third girl aged 15-19 and every six boys in the Roma and Egyptian population are married or in a union.
A legislative loophole allowing marriage at the age of 16 is reportedly one of the key factors enabling child marriage, according to a 2018 study by the Center for Roma Initiatives, with support from UNICEF and the EU.
"Increasing financial resources for the expansion of child and family support services has also been identified as one of the key measures to be undertaken in Montenegro in order to reduce children's exposure to violence, exploitation and poverty and ensure that all girls and boys have equal chances to grow and develop providing reliable statistical data on the condition and needs of children and families in the country is also a challenge that needs to be urgently addressed so that state policies are evidence-based, efficient and measurable in the context of the EU accession process and the fulfillment of Montenegro's goals in Agenda 2030." it is stated in the announcement.
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