100 cases per year

NEOS increase pressure on child custody law

Yannick Shetty (NEOS) is fighting for legal reforms against child marriages.

(Bild: AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS, krone.tv, Krone KREATIV)

In at least 100 cases, people affected by (imminent) forced marriages seek protection. It is not known how many people are actually forced into marriage. Most of them are children - and the number of unreported cases is estimated to be significantly higher. The alarm bells are ringing for NEOS youth spokesperson Yannick Shetty. He insists on the implementation of the reforms repeatedly announced by Justice Minister Alma Zadić.

The figures are shocking: In at least 100 cases, people affected by (imminent) forced marriages seek protection. According to experts from Caritas and the NGO "Orient Express", the number of unreported cases is likely to be even higher. "This practice is a serious violation of human rights and often affects children. Most often young women under the age of 16. And this is despite the fact that marriage in Austria is only officially permitted from the age of 16," experts say.

Criticism of poor data situation
"The data on child marriages in Austria is very poor," says Yannick Shetty, NEOS youth spokesperson. "We are therefore calling on the Minister of Justice to finally compile comprehensive statistics and disclose the number of child marriages that have taken place. Child marriages have no place in Austria. Children's rights must always come first. And to achieve this, we need better data as a first step," he adds - and he is not alone in his opinion. Maryam Alemi, from the legal advice service of Caritas of the Archdiocese of Vienna, who heads the FORMA (Forced Marriage, 2023/24) research project, takes a similar view. "At the beginning of our work, it quickly became clear that there was little data available on the subject of forced marriages in Austria. The data we were able to draw on - for example from criminal statistics, files and court decisions - was often limited to certain areas, which made it difficult to draw conclusions and derive targeted measures," explains the expert.

Another problem: Austrian law currently allows marriages from the age of 16 under certain conditions. This regulation is defined by UNICEF as child marriage and therefore contradicts international standards for the protection of minors. Germany already passed a law in 2017 to combat child marriages, which only allows marriages from the age of 18 and applies without exceptions.

It is unacceptable that we have been pointing out this problem for years, but young women are still being forced into marriages with adult men against their will in 2024. The government must take action here.

Yannick Shetty

In Austria, too, a reform of the law of parent and child followed by a reform of marriage and partnership law has been announced several times. However, shortly before the end of the government term and in the midst of the government crisis, concrete measures are still a long time coming. "You would think that a ban on child marriages would be decided in no time at all. But this federal government hasn't even managed that for years. And now the ÖVP and the Greens have finally stopped working, so their dispute is at the expense of children, which is unbearable. No matter what the hiccups in the government, the protection of children and young people must take priority," emphasized Shetty. He has now also - once again - tabled a parliamentary question on this to Justice Minister Alma Zadić. Not the first, but most likely the last question from the NEOS mandatary on the subject due to the approaching end of the government term.

According to Shetty, the consideration of raising the marriage age to 18 was anchored in the Turkish-Green government program and was confirmed in December 2020 as part of a response to a question from Justice Minister Zadić. During a parliamentary question and answer session in February 2022, the Green Minister of Justice was unable to provide a definitive timeframe for the ban on child marriages - rather, the reform of marriage and partnership law is only to be tackled once the reform of child custody law has been completed. This had been planned for the first quarter of 2022 - but is still missing. Year after year, Shetty continued to pile on. Year after year, the government put things off. In August 2023, the Ministry of Justice stated that the child custody reform was "already in political consultation". One of many political coordination processes between the black and green parties that have taken much longer than planned. 

Shetty asks about "preparatory acts"
"If one or both reforms can no longer be implemented - what steps are you and your department taking to carry the preparatory measures that have been taken for the reforms into the next government term?" the Pink Party now also wants to know. The minister has two months to respond.