Authorities promise to review marriage age to comply with traditions of Caucasus

In 2020, the Russian authorities planned to review the legal grounds for marriage of minors and adjust the age of consent. It was decided to amend the Family Code taking into account the traditions of the peoples of Northern Caucasus, suggests Valery Ryazansky, the head of the Social Policy Committee of the Federation Council.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the traditions of early marriage are preserved in Northern Caucasus. If there are good reasons, local authorities have the right to allow local residents marrying when they are 16 years old, and in Chechnya and Adygea  14 years old.

Diana Gurtskaya, the chair of the Commission on support of family, motherhood and childhood of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, believes that in Russia, there is no reason to change the age of marriage.

"We should not allow referring to any local traditions and let young Russian citizens, in fact children, marry," said Diana Gurtskaya as quoted by the RIA "Novosti".

In Chechnya, there are no cases of criminal prosecution for early marriages, advocate Abusupyan Gaitaev notes. "If a girl marries at the age of 14-15, then no one in society pays attention to that fact as something unnatural," the advocate said.