Child Marriages on Rise in Germany, Sparking Political Concern
New data reveals hundreds of child marriages in the German state of Baden-Württemberg since 2012, with girls as young as 11 involved.
Hundreds of child marriages have been recorded in Germany, with new data indicating that girls as young as 11 are being married to adult men, primarily from countries like Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan. In the German state of Baden-Württemberg alone, officials registered 358 marriages involving a child since April 2012, though only eight of these unions were formally annulled.
The figures emerged following a parliamentary inquiry by the hard-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Among the cases highlighted was the 2020 union of an 11-year-old Iraqi girl and a 17-year-old Iraqi teenager, and in 2018, a 14-year-old Afghan girl was married to a 30-year-old Afghan man. Details regarding the annulment of these specific marriages remain unclear.
Since 2015, a total of 350 instances of child marriage were documented in the state, with a significant proportion involving individuals from Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan. According to one AfD politician, Nikolaos Boutakoglou, nearly 40% of these marriages were between Syrian nationals, while unions between two German citizens accounted for only 0.3%.
The state government has stated that despite the high number of recorded child marriages, no legal proceedings are currently underway to annul them. Emely Knoll, another AfD politician involved in the inquiry, emphasized that child marriages are incompatible with German values and called for effective protection and intervention measures.
Data from Baden-Württemberg indicates that the vast majority of underage individuals in these marriages are female. Globally, the United Nations reports that nearly one in five women are married before the age of 18, a rate that is highest in West and Central Africa. The UN also notes that one in 25 women worldwide are married before their 15th birthday. UNICEF describes child marriage as a fundamental violation of human rights, often leading to early pregnancy, social isolation, interrupted schooling, and increased risk of domestic violence.