A/HRC/26/22 Child and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women have both raised concerns over the continued existence of child marriage and have recommended that States parties enforce the prohibition of child marriage. 10. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has also noted that a number of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child should be considered applicable to the issue of child marriage, including article 24, paragraph 3, which provides that States parties should “take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children.”11 The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee against Torture have also identified child marriage as a harmful practice which leads to the infliction of physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, with both short- and long-term consequences, and negatively impacts on the capacity of victims to realize the full range of their rights.12 The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography has indicated that child marriage may be considered as sale of children for the purposes of sexual exploitation, in violation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and of article 35 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.13 11. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery has drawn links between child marriage and slavery, pointing out that States are obliged to prohibit and eliminate slavery as a non-derogable and fundamental principle of international law.14 According to ECPAT International, marriage of children and adolescents under the age of 18 can under certain circumstances be considered a form of commercial sexual exploitation when the child is used for sexual purposes in exchange for goods or payment in cash or in kind.15 12. Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, articles 2 and 3 of the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages and article 2 of the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery obligate States parties to undertake legislative measures to specify a minimum age for marriage.16 The Committees on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and on the Rights of the Child have recommended that 11 12 13 14 15 16 See in particular article 2 on non-discrimination, article 3 on the best interests of the child, article 12 on the right of the child to be heard in accordance with her/his age and maturity, article 19 on essential measures to be taken to protect the child from all forms of violence, article 34 on protecting children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, article 35 on measures to prevent the abduction of, sale of or traffic in children and article 36 on protecting the child against all other forms of exploitation which may cause harm to the child. See, for example, the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on Montenegro (CEDAW/C/MNE/CO/1), Mauritania (CRC/C/MRT/CO/2), Togo (CRC/C/TGO/CO/3-4), Zambia (CEDAW/C/ZMB/CO/5-6) and the concluding observations of the Committee against Torture on Bulgaria (CAT/C/BGR/CO/4-5). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (A/66/228), p. 8. See also the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, art. 1 (c) (i)(iii) and (d). This was also highlighted by the Pan-African Forum against the Sexual Exploitation of Children: see UNICEF, Early Marriage – A harmful traditional practice: A statistical exploration (New York, 2005). See thematic report on servile marriage (A/HRC/21/41); see also the report on the mission to Madagascar of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences (A/HRC/24/43/Add.2), especially para. 125 and the thematic report on challenges and lessons in combating contemporary forms of slavery (A/HRC/24/43). ECPAT International submission. See also African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999), art. 21, para. 2, and Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1468 (2005), para. 14.2.1. 5