France seeks to raise marriage age for girls

The French Senate set in motion yesterday an effort to raise the minimum age at which young women can marry for the first time since Napoleon ruled France, a move designed to discourage forced marriages.

Parliament’s upper chamber, in an unanimous vote, approved an amendment that would raise the minimum age at which women can marry to 18 years old, up from 15, the age set under the famed emperor in 1804.

The amendment was affixed to two bills, put forward by the opposition Socialist and Communist parties, that are designed to reduce domestic violence. The centre-right government supports the idea.

For the measure to take effect, the lower house – the National Assembly – must also approve it.

Passage would bring France into line with most other European Union member countries, where the minimum age for marriage is 18 for both men and women.

The 1804 French law says men must be 18 before they can get married.

The high council on integration, a special panel set up by the prime minister, estimated in 2003 that 70,000 teenagers – mostly from families of immigrant origin – were affected by forced marriages.

“This modification to the civil code will not suffice alone to eliminate forced marriages,” said Joelle Garriaud-Maylam, the centre-right lawmaker who sponsored the amendment. “Many take place abroad.”