Annotation:
This fact sheet notes that early marriage is recognized as a harmful practice in part because it usually results in a denial of other rights (e.g.: education). The fact sheet acknowledges that although harmful traditional practices such as early marriage violate international human rights laws, "such practices persist because they are not questioned and take on an aura of morality in the eyes of those practising them". The fact sheet includes a "Plan of Action for the Elimination of Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children" prepared by the second United Nations Regional Seminar on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, held at Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 4 to 8 July 1994 (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/10/Add.1 and Corr. 1); adopted by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in its resolution 1994/30 of 26 August 1994 (para. 3). [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Overview, International]