YEREVAN. – Setting the same age—that is, 18—as the minimum marriage age for men and women alike in Armenia’s Family Code stems from the need to eliminate gender inequalities, Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasyan stated during Thursday’s Cabinet meeting. Also, he submitted for the Government’s approval the bill for making the respective legislative changes.       

To note, pursuant to the working Family Code in Armenia, the minimum marriage age is 17 for women and 18 for men.   

According to Tovmasyan, the international organizations are calling upon Armenia’s authorities for a long time to eliminate this gender inequality. But there are other reasons, too. 

First, now, the school education for children is set at 12 years instead of the previous 10 years. That is to say, the girls are still at school at the age of 17, and this makes marriage inadvisable.      

Second, the Healthcare Ministry has concluded that women’s pregnancy at an early age causes several health problems in the future.

And third, the marriage age in Armenia has automatically risen anyhow. 

In his turn, Deputy PM and Territorial Administration Minister Armen Gevorgyan, who was moderating the Cabinet meeting, informed that the matter of setting the same marriage age was agreed upon with the NGOs, too.