WUNRN
THE GIRL CHILD - ADOLESCENT GIRL -
AGE OF MAJORITY/CONSENT
COMPLEXITIES OF DEFINING - LEGAL
ISSUES
STATE OF THE WORLD'S CHILDREN 2011 -
ADOLESCENTS
"Adolescence is difficult to
define in precise terms. It is widely acknowledged that each individual
experiences this period differently depending on her or his physical, emotional
and cognitive maturation, as well as other contingencies....
Puberty occurs at significantly
different points for girls and boys, as well as for different individuals of
the same sex. Girls begin puberty on the average 12-18 months earlier than
boys; the median age of girls' first period is 12 years. Girls, however, can
experience the menarche as early as 8 years old. Evidence shows, moreover, that
puberty is beginning earlier than ever before - the age of puberty for both
girls and boys has declined by fully three years over the past two centuries,
largely due to higher standards of health and nutrition.
Another factor that complicates any
definition of adolescence is the wide variation in national laws setting
minimum age thresholds for participation in activities considered the preserve
of adults, including voting, marriage, military participation, property
ownership, and alcohol consumption.
Below the age of majority, an
individual is still considered a "minor." In many countries, the age
of majority is 18, which has the virtue of being consonant with the upper
threshold of the age range for children under Article l of the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
In other countries, this threshold
varies widely. One of the lowest national ages of majority is applied to girls
in Iran who reach this threshold at just 9 years, compared with 15 for Iranian
boys. For those countries with age of majority below 18, the UN Committee on
the Rights of the Child, the monitoring body for the Convention, encourages
States parties to review this threshold and to increase the level of protection
for all children under 18.
The age at which marriage is first
possible may also diverge significantly from the age of majority. In many
countries, a distinction is drawn between the age at which anyone may legally
marry and an earlier age at which it is only possible to marry with parental or
court permission. Many nations have set a different marriageable age for males
and females, normally allowing girls to marry at a younger age than boys.
Another difficulty in defining
adolescence is that irrespective of the legal thresholds demarcating childhood
and adolescence from adulthood, many adolescents and young children across the
world are engaged in adult activities such as labour, marriage, primary
caregiving, and conflict. Assuming these roles, in effect, robs them of their
childhood and adolescence. In many countries and communities, child marriage
(defined by UNICEF as marriage or union before age 18), adolescent motherhood,
violence, abuse and exploitation can in effect deprive girls especially, but
also boys, of any adolescence at all. Child marriage in particular is
associated with high levels of violence, social marginalization, and exclusion
from protection services and education. A similar situation occurs with child
labour, in which an estimated 150 million children aged 5-14 are engaged.
Weak national birth registration
complicates efforts to enforce minimum age thresholds. Just 51% of children in
the developing world (excluding China) were
registered at birth for the period
2000-2009. Without such registration, which is a right under the Convention on
the Rights of the Child, it is almost impossible to fully protect the rights of
adolescents or to prosecute cases of unlawful premature entry into adult roles
such as marriage, labour, and military service, when the exact age of the child
or adolescent cannot be determined."