Official statistics from Germany show that 358 cases of child marriage have been registered in the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2012, with only eight of them having been formally annulled by a court. According to a report by the German newspaper Welt, these cases predominantly involve migrant families.
The report, published on Monday, October 12, reveals that some of the cases involve girls as young as 11 and 12 years old. Many of these marriages were conducted outside of Germany and were later registered by authorities as existing legal unions after the families migrated to the country.
Several of the documented cases involve Afghan girls. For instance, the marriage of a 12-year-old Afghan girl to an 18-year-old man was registered in 2020. Another case from 2023 involved the marriage of a 12-year-old Afghan girl to a 21-year-old Afghan man. In a rare annulment in 2018, a court dissolved the marriage of a 14-year-old Afghan girl to a 30-year-old man.
Other specific cases highlighted in the report include the 2020 annulment of a marriage between an 11-year-old Iraqi girl and a 17-year-old boy. In 2024, two more marriages were annulled: one involving a 16-year-old German girl and a 25-year-old Pakistani man, and another between a 16-year-old Syrian girl and a 27-year-old Syrian man. The marriage of a 12-year-old Syrian girl to a 28-year-old man was also reported in 2022.
German law strictly prohibits marriage under the age of 16, and marriages between the ages of 16 and 18 require special court permission. However, annulling marriages that were legally registered in other countries presents a complex legal challenge, which partly explains the low number of annulments.
Counseling centers are facing increasing pressure from these situations. The "Yasmin" counseling center reported that in 2025, it handled 271 cases, 80 of which involved individuals at risk of forced marriage. Among those at risk, 33 were minors. These figures underscore the growing need for legal and social support systems to protect children from forced and early marriage.
Source: Welt newspaper
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