Just Because It's Trending Doesn't Mean It's True

Dutch Law Recognizes Child Marriage If Done Legally Abroad

  • by: Maarten Schenk
  • (Mon, 28 Sep 2015 14:33:22 Z)

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In the wake of the refugee crisis currently affecting Europe, a disturbing story emerged fron The Netherlands. Dutch website RTVNoord reports at least 34 Syrian child brides have applied for asylum since January 2014. More are reportedly on their way, including some are as young as 13 or 14 years old.

Dutch law says child marriages must be considered valid if they were performed legally in the country of origin. This also implies that if one of the partners in the marriage obtains a legal immigration status then the other partner is also allowed into the country. Several older men already in the Netherlands are using this law to bring their minor brides into the country legally.

RTVNoord reported that several Dutch politicians have expressed shock and dismay at the provision and a new law is working its way through parliament to put a stop it. The new legislation would only recognize marriages performed abroad if both partners are 18 or older. The new law could be enacted in November, but child marriage will be legally recognized in The Netherlands until then.

Lead Stories' Trendolizerâ„¢ constantly scours social networks worldwide trending news about the struggle against child marriage. Scroll down to see the latest.

About the author:

Maarten Schenk is our resident expert on fake news and hoax websites. He likes to go beyond just debunking trending fake news stories and is endlessly fascinated by the dazzling variety of psychological and technical tricks used by the people and networks who intentionally spread made-up things on the internet.  He can often be found at conferences and events about fake news, disinformation and fact checking when he is not in his office in Belgium monitoring and tracking the latest fake article to go viral.

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