A new law that will help protect adolescent girls in Kyrgyzstan from forced and early marriages passed its third and final parliamentary reading on 5 October, with 68 deputies voting in favour of the law and 40 against. The law was drafted with considerable input from women’s rights activists in Kyrgyzstan. Once signed into law by the President, the law will introduce criminal sanctions of up to five years’ imprisonment for anyone involved in organizing or officiating at a religious marriage ceremony where one or both of the spouses is under the age of 18.
