Child marriages overshadowed by crimes

Abstract

The paper deals with the problem of child marriage, which although insufficiently accurate and unknown as a legal term (and therefore placed under allegations) dominates international legal documents as well as national documents and research surveys. It should be pointed out that the inaccuracy of the term "child marriage" negatively affects the recognition, registration, and response to a dangerous phenomenon that should be prevented and suppressed. The author presents and analyzes provisions of the most important international legal documents relevant to the topic, the results of the latest research surveys, pointing out to the (non-)compliance of the Serbian legal framework with international legal requirements and recommendations. The situation in Serbia has also been discussed from an aspect of the practice, with an emphasis on the criminal legal context in which the phenomenon of child marriage can be considered (given the perceived link to crimes such as coercion, neglecting and abusing a minor, domestic violence, cohabiting with a minor, sexual intercourse with a child, human trafficking).