A/HRC/26/22 47. The absence of systematic free and compulsory marriage and birth registration in an official registry and the absence of compulsory registration of customary and religious marriages,94 have been identified as major stumbling blocks for the implementation of existing child protection legislation.95 48. Several States reported that marriages concluded under force might be voidable, annulled or dissolved.96 However, civil society organization submissions indicate that in many countries, victims of child, early and forced marriage face legal and practical barriers to accessing remedial action. These barriers include time limitations on petitions for annulment, economic constraints and the requirement that “a girl has the support of an adult if she is still a minor” in order for her to submit a petition.97 Furthermore, laws that provide only for civil remedies commonly place the onus on the girl herself to apply for annulment of the marriage. In the United Kingdom for instance, calls have been made to abolish or extend the time limit for lodging nullity petitions in order to protect the victims of forced marriage, as many victims are married young and “lack the confidence to challenge their situation” in the first years of marriage, which means that they will often be statute barred from petitioning for an annulment.98 49. Ensuring proper funding for organizations providing refuge for victims of child, early and forced marriage is also a challenge. Women’s Aid, a United Kingdom-based CSO which provides refuge to victims of domestic violence, including forced marriage, reported turning away significant numbers of women on a daily basis owing to lack of space.99 50. Concerning prevention, access to quality education for girls continues to be a major challenge in many countries. Although various governments have made important progress in improving access to education within the framework of their Millennium Development Goals programmes, structural and systemic barriers, such as entrenched social norms whereby parents frequently opt to invest in their sons’ education over their daughters’ and considerable resource constraints mean that a large number of young people, particularly girls, remain out of school.100 The Government of Ethiopia estimates that the number of schools needs to be more than doubled to cope with the demand generated by the major increase in primary enrolments over the past 15 years.101 Laws that prevent pregnant girls from attending school, such as those in Papua New Guinea and Swaziland, mean that married children’s access can be severely curtailed.102 The quality of education also continues to remain a concern. 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 16 (Southall Black Sisters submission, p. 7). See the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Botswana and Kyrgyzstan. Plan International submission, p. 4. Plan International is supporting the development of an online birth registration information system in Bangladesh, with the aim of preventing tampering with birth dates to falsify the age of a girl at marriage. In the United Kingdom, for example, victims of forced marriage have the option of petitioning for an annulment rather than a divorce in view of the lesser stigma that is attached to annulment (submission from Ruth Gaffney-Rhys, p. 1). In Switzerland, the Federal Council has launched a federal programme against forced marriage which contains preventive measures for women and girls and protective measures for those who have already been forcefully married. The programme will run from 2013 to 2017. Center for Reproductive Rights submission, p. 2. Equality Now submission. Submission from Ruth Gaffney-Rhys. Plan International submission. Ethiopia Welfare and Monitoring Survey, 2011. Equality Now submission, p. 11.