Colombia has officially banned child marriage after 17 years of persistent campaigning by advocacy groups. The legislation, called ‘They Are Girls, Not Wives’, was approved following hours of intense debate in Congress.

The new law prohibits the marriage of anyone under 18, ending a 137-year-old legal loophole that allowed minors to wed with parental consent. It also abolishes informal marital unions for minors who cohabited for at least two years.

“We do not want to continue seeing systematic violence and the exploitation of children,” said Congresswoman Jennifer Pedraza, co-author of the bill, after the historic vote. “Colombia is sending a powerful message that childhood must be protected, not exploited.”

This move places Colombia alongside 11 other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that have completely outlawed child marriage, including Honduras, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. According to UNICEF, nearly 4.5 million girls and women in Colombia were married before the age of 18, with one in four experiencing this fate. Alarmingly, a million of these marriages involved girls under 15.

Child marriage disproportionately affects girls, particularly in rural, Indigenous, and impoverished communities. Critics argue that the practice has been perpetuated by entrenched machismo, economic inequality, and decades of internal conflict. “We live in a patriarchal society where girls as young as 12 are seen as future mothers rather than children,” said Executive Director of Profamilia Marta Royo.

Advocates argued that Colombia’s international obligations demanded the eradication of this harmful practice.

By closing this chapter, Colombia has taken an overdue step toward protecting its children and breaking cycles of poverty and exploitation.