Marriage of Minor: Implications from Nigerian and Tunisian Legal Systems Framework

Abstract

Background: Despite all the international agreements and national laws that ban and against the marriage of minors, it is increasingly commonplace in many countries across the globe. Child marriage is a human rights violation which denies girls from acquiring proper education and gaining the required knowledge and sound health that could help them to conveniently navigate the future for their dream or perceived ambition in life so that they can play an amazing role with their peers in nation building. People engage in a marriage with a minor for different reasons and motivations. Still, the majority believe in sexual pleasure derived from marrying someone young, l far different from that of an older woman. The implications of the marriage of minors are vividly addressed in this paper. The marriage of minors is rampant in the world, but this study limits its scope to the implications of the marriage of minors from the legal framework in Nigeria and Tunisia. Methods: This article uses content analysis (CA) and systematic literature review (SLR) as methodological approaches. The methodology provides theoretical and practical foundations for Marriage of Minors: Implications from Nigerian and Tunisian Legal Systems Framework. Results and Conclusions: The results from the literature review and content analysis demonstrate cases of the marriage of a minor in both countries explored in this study. The paper also demonstrated that there are international and domestic legal frameworks in addressing the challenges of marriage to minors, and the paper specifically analysed the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also illustrated the Tunisian legal framework for the marriage of minors and highlighted the similarities and differences in Nigerian and Tunisian laws regarding the issue. The health and educational implications of child marriage in both countries are also elucidated in the paper. The paper recommends valuable suggestions to the policy maker and the need for the National Assembly of both countries to reform their family law and take note of the differences in both customary and Islamic laws. This paper also recommends more respect for civil law, enacted unanimously.