A/HRC/21/41 25. This provision is reiterated in article 16 (2) of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and in the 1962 Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages. Article 2 of the latter states that States parties are to specify a minimum age for marriage, which is given as not less than 15 years in the non-binding recommendation accompanying the Convention. It further states that no marriage is to be legally entered into by any person under that age, except where a competent authority has granted a dispensation as to age, for serious reasons, in the interests of the intending spouses. 26. Article 23 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides for the right of men and women of a marriageable age to marry and to found a family. Article 23 (3) provides that no marriage is to be entered into without the free and full consent of the intending spouses. 27. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women contains specific provisions in relation to forced marriage (article 16 (1) (b)) and early marriage (article 16 (2)). Child marriages, which are unions that involve at least one partner below the minimum legal age of marriage, constitute a form of forced marriage as the child is not in a position to consent. Article 16 of the Convention specifies that the betrothal and the marriage of a child are to have no legal effect, and all necessary action, including legislation, is to be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage. 28. Under article 24 (3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, States parties are required to take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children. 29. Under article 5 of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, States parties are to take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women. B. Regional human rights instruments 30. Article 17 (2) of the American Convention on Human Rights guarantees the right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and to raise a family, and requires that no marriage is to be entered into without the free and full consent of the intending spouses. Under article 17 (3), the States parties are to take appropriate steps to ensure the equality of rights and the adequate balancing of responsibilities of the spouses as to marriage, during marriage, and in the event of its dissolution. Article 3 of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women safeguards a woman’s right to be free from violence2 in both the public and private spheres. 31. Article 21 (2) of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child states that child marriage and the betrothal of girls and boys are to be prohibited and effective action, including legislation, is to be taken to specify the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years. Article 6 of the 2003 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa states that no marriage is to take place without the free and full consent of both parties, and requires States to enact appropriate national legislative measures to guarantee that the minimum age of marriage for women is to be 18 years. 2 Article 1 of the Convention defines violence as “any act or conduct, based on gender, which causes death or physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, whether in the public or the private sphere”. 7