Naomi Wiseman of the Garden Court Chambers Family Law Team and Emma Fenn of the Garden Court Chambers Crime Team are advising the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO).
IKWRO is part of the Girls Not Brides Global Partnership seeking to end child marriage around the world. In the UK the campaign is focused on changing the law to protect under-18s. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a 16 and 17 year old can marry with parental consent and in Scotland the minimum marriageable age is 16. Activists believe consent can mean coercion.
To protect children, Girls Not Brides and IKWRO are calling for the minimum marriageable age to be raised to 18 in Scotland and parental consent in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to be abolished. Naomi Wiseman and Emma Fenn are providing expert family and criminal law advice respectively, in connection with a draft bill to legislate this change into law.
On 23 July 2019, Naomi Wiseman alongside campaigners including IKWRO, met with Parliamentarians to seek support for the campaign. The meeting was held with Victoria Atkins MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability and Pauline Latham MP. Both Pauline Latham MP (Con) and Sarah Champion MP (Lab) support the campaign.
To find out more about the campaign and how you can support these organisations, visit the IKWRO and Girls Not Brides websites.
