CHILD MARRIAGE IN FRANCE

UNCLAS PARIS 001787

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON ELAB PHUM PGOV SCUL SOCI KWMN FR
SUBJECT: CHILD MARRIAGE IN FRANCE

REF: STATE 36341


1. (U) Following is post's response to request for
information on child marriage. Following paras respond
directly to reftel's three questions.


2. (U) Reftel Question A: Males can legally marry in France
at age 18; females at 15 (Article 144, Civil Code). Girls
between 15 and 18 can be married with the consent of one
parent; girls under 15 and boys under 18 who wish to marry
require a favorable decision from the State Prosecutor.


3. (U) Reftel Question B: Underage marriage is not a
problem in the population at large in France. According to a
recent report by a working group focused on women immigrants
in France, the problem of underage or forced marriage is
greatest in immigrant communities from Mali, Mauritania,
Senegal, North Africa, Turkey, and Asia. The High Council of
Immigration (HCI),a government body, cites the number of
young women in France who are "susceptible" to forced
marriages at around 70,000, a number derived from NGOs who
work with at-risk populations. (NOTE: the government does not
have the means to collect official statistics on the matter,
and the description of the population "susceptible" to forced
marriage is necessarily broader than the number of persons
who may actually be subjected to it.)


4. (U) Reftel Question C: There are no US-funded initiatives
addressing child marriage in France.
Leach