The Head of Egypt\u2019s National Council of Women\u2019s Rights [NCWR] Maya Morsi called on the parliament on Monday to set a draft for a new law that raises the legal age of marriage from 18 to 21, according to the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram.<\/p>\n
She further asked them to suspend any attempts to reduce the legal age of marriage to 16 and to draft another law criminalizing child marriage for girls.<\/p>\n
Maya\u2019s call came during a dialogue session with the Social Solidarity Committee of Egypt\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n
Recently, MP Ahmed Samih proposed a draft law to lower the minimum legal marriage age for girls from 18 years down to 16, the suggested draft law has resulted in massive criticism over young girls\u2019 physical health and consequent marginalization in society.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis draft law would only decriminalize a rampant phenomenon in Egypt\u2019s countryside, and help girls who marry at 16, nonetheless, obtain their legal rights,\u201d Samih, an independent MP representing the Giza district of al-Talbiya, said.<\/p>\n
In Egypt, nearly 36 percent of marriages in remote areas and southern Egypt include a partner under the age of 18, according to studies by the National Council for Women.<\/p>\n
Another study conducted in May by the International Population Council revealed that about 600,000 women in Upper Egypt were married before they reached 18 \u2013 the legal age of consent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Head of Egypt\u2019s National Council of Women\u2019s Rights [NCWR] Maya Morsi called on the parliament on Monday to set a draft for a new law that raises the legal age of marriage from 18 to 21, according to the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram. She further asked them to suspend any attempts to reduce the legal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":39465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7863],"tags":[22587,22588,22586],"class_list":["post-39464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-section","tag-maya-morsi","tag-mp-ahmed-samih","tag-ncwr"],"yoast_head":"\n