As part of our 'Pi' (a Hebrew acronym for supervision, enforcement and implementation of laws in Israel) Project, the Rackman Center, led by its Director, Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, has prepared a report offering a new, comprehensive plan for enforcing the law in an effort to eradicate child marriage in Israel.
Based on global practices and tailored to Israeli society, the report presents a series of measures, including: the enactment of a law entitling alimony to underage married females until they reach the age of 18, mandatory reporting of under-age marriage by various authorities to the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, and a national inter-ministerial program to prevent underage marriage that will engage in raising awareness, increasing accessibility of information, and providing real-time response.
The report was presented to the Knesset committee at a special meeting held in Sderot on 24th November 2015.
In the pictures, from right to left:
Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, Dr. Galit Shaul, Adv. Keren Horowitz, Heidi Moses
On 25th November, Heidi Moses, who also attended the committee meeting, discussed her story of under age marriage with 'London and Kirschenbaum'. She described how she was forced into marriage and was engaged age 16 and married at 17, and both she and her husband were against the marriage but had no choice.
She joins The Rackman Center in supporting the law we passed to raise the legal age of marriage and our aim to ensure the law is enforced.