NEPAL
NEPAL
PREVALENCE OF MARRIAGE BY AGE 15
PREVALENCE OF MARRIAGE BY AGE 18
FEMALE
6%
MALE
N/A
35%
7%
Year of data:
2022
Source:
DHS 2022
Year of data:
2022
Source:
DHS 2022
LEGAL AGE OF MARRIAGE
20
20
LOWEST PERMITTED AGE OF MARRIAGE DUE TO EXCEPTIONS IN THE LAW
20
20
Law(s) which govern marriage and/or child marriage:
National Civil Code 1963, Marriage Registration Act 1971 (as amended 2006), Constitution 2015, National Civil Code 2017, Penal Code 2017, Act Relating to Children 2018
ABOUT THE LAW AND ANY EXCEPTIONS
Child marriage has been an explicit crime in Nepal since the first modern-day civil code was published in 1963, when the legal age of marriage for women was set at 18. The Marriage Registration Act was amended in 2006 to make the legal ages of marriage 20 for both men and women without exception. This is reiterated in the 2017 Civil Code. The Constitution explicitly bans child marriage, as well as cultural traditions or practices which subject women to any form of violence. In 2018 the Act Relating to Children also crimininalised the act of fixing a child marriage. Marital rape of a child is also criminalised.
CAN MARRIED OR PREGNANT GIRLS GO TO SCHOOL?
No explicit law prevents or protects the right to education for married, pregnant, or parenting girls.
IS THE COUNTRY A FRAGILE OR CONFLICT-AFFECTED STATE?
No
IS THE COUNTRY ONE OF THE 50 MOST CLIMATE-VULNERABLE STATES?
No
IS IT ONE OF THE 50 COUNTRIES WITH THE HIGHEST RATES OF MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY?
Yes
