New Law Would Prohibit Marriage At 15
The Comisión de la Niñez y la Adolescencia de la Asamblea Legislativa is recommending the approval of a reform to the Código de Familia (Family Code) that would prohibit marriage of minors 15 years old and under.

The commission took into account consultations from different sectors and determined that an adolescent is not capable of making such an important decision as marriage.

The initiative has the support of many legislators, including former Ombudsman and now legislator, Manuel Echandi of the Partido Unión Nacional (PUN), who believes the change is of a major social impact.

"When I was Defensor de los Habitantes, I received a number of complaints about young girls being the object of sexual exploitation and found a number of cases of men as old as 60 marrying girls as young as 13 and 14 to cover the sexual abuse", said Echandi.

In Costa Rica a minor can contract marriage if one or both parents give their approval, as long as the approval is not based on a financial gain, which is sanctioned up to eight years for parents or guardians who do so.

Echandi added that during his term as Ombudsman, he found that in the majority of the cases one or both of the parents were in agreement of the marriage to hide the sexual abuse and that most of the cases where in the coastal areas when child prostitution is alive and well.

The legislation, if approved, will expressly prohibit the allowing of a marriage of a minor under the age of 15 regardless if there is parental consent.

Legislator Andrea Morales, president of the commission, expressed her joy that the proposal is being heard. "The initiative will eliminate the underhand practice of sexual exploitation of minors, in which many cases marriage is being used to hide the dark business of sexual exploitation", said Morales.

Catholic priest and lawyer Mauricio Granados, who is also the Chancellor for the Curia Metropolitana, assures that the Catholic church will give its full support to the initiative.