At fourteen, Mai should have been worrying about school, giggling with friends, dreaming of the future. Instead, she was bracing herself for a marriage she never wanted, arranged by her own family to settle a debt. This is no fairy tale wedding; it is a brutal reality for many women and girls in Southeast Asia.
Child, early, and forced marriage, is a pervasive problem often serving as both a form of and pathway to exploitation. According to UNICEF, millions of girls in the ASEAN region are married before they turn 18. Driving this figure are factors including poverty, gender inequality, and insufficient legal frameworks to tackle the issue. Child and forced marriage extend beyond the ASEAN region, with global statistics showing an upward trend in child and forced marriages. In 2021, 22 million people were living in forced marriages, an increase of 6.6 million since 2016.
Australia’s support to ASEAN to address this issue was recently showcased to a global audience at the 25th Conference of the Alliance against Trafficking in Persons hosted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna (1-2 April 2025). An expert panel at a side-event featured international research by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, case studies from the Freedom Fund, and a presentation of prevalence and promising practices in Southeast Asia by the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC). Here are some key takeaways from the discussion:
The impact and drivers of child, early, and forced marriage
Child and early marriage are generally considered a form of forced marriage because children are not able to consent due to their lack of maturity and understanding of the implications of marriage. While many instances of child and forced marriage are linked to human trafficking, cases are rarely investigated and prosecuted.
The impact of forced marriage is multi-faceted and long-term, particularly for children. Victims often face sexual and psychological violence, exploitation for labour or sex, isolation, early and unwanted pregnancies, and are forced to drop out of school, which limits their future employment opportunities.
The drivers of child, early and forced marriage are highly contextualised and include a combination of economic, socio-cultural and religious factors. Traditional practices, combined with modern drivers and opportunistic organised criminal groups have driven recent increases in trafficking for marriage for example, in Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar, girls and young women are trafficked into China. Lack of access to education, coupled with the societal acceptance of child marriage in some parts of Southeast Asia, creates a fertile ground for traffickers to prey on girls and young women. Digital technology is frequently used by brokers to entrap and groom girls and young women to marry foreign nationals. In the ASEAN region, child marriage is often highly concentrated in rural and remote areas and especially among ethnic minorities.
The need for regional cooperation
Responses to this issue vary. Some countries have criminalised forced marriage in trafficking in persons (TIP) legislation, while others address it through child protection or sexual violence laws. Regardless of how it is reflected in legislation, the number of cases remains very low. Legal loopholes and inconsistencies in the definitions of consent and forced marriage allow the harmful practice to persist and make prosecutions of this crime very difficult. Even when prosecutions are pursued, it is important to acknowledge that criminal justice responses can only ever be a part of the answer.
NGOs that protect and support victims of forced marriage play a critical role in helping victims escape from a forced marriage and access justice beyond the courtroom. Most victims avoid going to the police and require gender-sensitive and culturally appropriate support, typically provided by NGOs. Victim-survivors who are able to access help, recover and reintegrate after a forced marriage also play a critical role in informing better responses based on their lived experience and unique understanding of how trafficking occurs.
Beyond individual responses, promoting gender equality and challenging harmful cultural norms that condone child marriage are vital components of any long-term strategy to tackle trafficking for marriage. Investment in community-based programs that educate families about the dangers of child marriage and provide alternative pathways for girls is equally important. Strengthening social protection systems such as birth registrations, health services, quality education, legal, digital and financial literacy are all key to addressing vulnerabilities to trafficking.
Through the leadership of ACWC, a new guideline for the ASEAN region on preventing child and forced marriage in the context of trafficking in persons has been developed. This guideline was informed by a series of consultations with all 10 ASEAN Member States, civil society and victim-survivors of child and forced marriage from the region. Once endorsed by all ASEAN Member States, the guideline will provide a framework for States to work towards in eradicating child and forced marriage. The ASEAN guideline places particular emphasis on a whole-of-society response involving educators, community and religious leaders, parents and of course children and young people themselves.
It is only through a coordinated, comprehensive strategy that addresses both the symptoms, and the root causes of the problem, can the cycle of exploitation for women and girls be broken. As the OSCE’s Special Representative and Coordinator for the Trafficking of Human Beings, Dr Kari Johnstone said in closing the 25th Anti-Trafficking Alliance meeting, the time for decisive and ‘tripling down on our actions’ against child trafficking is now; the future of millions of girls depends on it.
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For more information about the conference, visit: www.osce.org/cthb/588595
The side-event panel was moderated by Australia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN and International Organisations, Dr Katie Mead.
The panel featured:
- Ms Livia Wagner, Head of Governance and Thematic Lead on Human Trafficking, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - The nexus between child and forced marriage and trafficking in persons, drawing on comparative legal analysis.
- Ms. Yanti Kusumawardhani, Indonesia’s Representative for Child Rights to the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children - Child and forced marriage in Southeast Asia and ASEAN’s efforts to prevent and respond, including through the development of a new regional policy framework in consultation with governments, civil society and survivors.
- Ms Ni Ni Aung, Consultant, The Freedom Fund - The role of civil society organizations in preventing and responding to child and forced marriages, and advocating for evidence-based policy responses in Southeast Asia.