In a small village in the central governorate of Minya, preparations were made earlier this month to marry a 13-year-old girl off to a man almost her father’s age.
Fortunately enough, everything had to abruptly stop when the girl’s mother enlisted help from the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) through the Child Helpline, a council mechanism that fights the marriage of minor girls.
This was one of hundreds of cases where the NCCM succeeded in preventing the marriage of underage girls in the past years, a phenomenon that has persisted over the years.
Nevertheless, this persistence is faced with even stronger determination from the NCCM to reduce it, council officials said.
NCCM Head Sahar el-Sonbaty described the same phenomenon as a “crime” and “blatant violation” of children’s rights.
She pointed to its severe physical and psychological consequences, as well as its impact on the education and the safety of girls.
“The NCCM will continue to confront such practices with firmness,” el-Sonbaty said in a recent statement.
The case of the 13-year-old girl violated multiple laws, including article 80 of the constitution, which obligates the state to protect children from all forms of violence and exploitation.
It also breached provisions of the Child Law and civil status regulations that prohibit the registration of marriage contracts for anyone under 18.
Despite these laws, the numbers tell a more complicated story.
According to a recent NCCM report, the Child Helpline received notifications about 280 child marriage cases in 2025, successfully stopping 217 of them.
More broadly, the hotline reported approximately 27,700 complaints that year, an increase of 6,276 cases, compared to the previous year, marking a 29.3per cent rise.
Over 80per cent of child marriage cases are concentrated in rural areas, according to the hotline.
The good news, however, is that the rise in notifications may partly reflect a similar rise in awareness of the importance of reporting such cases to the authorities, specialists said.
The same specialists also point to a negative side: the practice itself has not disappeared.
“There is a full system in place to combat underage marriage,” Nour Osama, a member of the NCCM, told The Gazette.
He explained that the strategy of the NCCM rests on three main pillars: protection through the Child Helpline and local child protection committees, legal enforcement, and awareness campaigns.
“All three are equally important,” Osama said.
He added that setting the legal marriage age at 18 was not determined randomly.
“It is based on medical understanding,” Osama said. “At this age, the girl’s body is more prepared for marriage and childbirth.”
On paper, the law is clear. Egyptian legislation prohibits marriage under 18, and the constitution obliges the state to protect children from harm. But enforcement becomes complicated when practices move outside official systems.
Some families, as experts acknowledge, try to bypass the law by arranging informal marriages through agreements written on paper but later officially registered once the girl reaches the legal marriage age
“This is one of the ways people try to get around the law,” Samia Khedr, a professor of Sociology at Ain Shams University, said.
She points to a mix of reasons for the presence of such a practice, including poverty.
“Poverty is a major factor, along with ignorance and long-standing social beliefs,” Khedr said.
She noted that some parents genuinely think early marriage is in the girl’s best interest, something that protects her or secures her future.
But the reality, she said, is often very different.
“In many cases, the girl is not ready mentally, emotionally, or physically,” Professor Khedr said.
“There is often a big age gap, which creates imbalance in the relationship. And there are health risks, from difficult pregnancies to complications during childbirth,” she told this newspaper.
These outcomes are rarely part of the initial decision.
Instead, early marriage is sometimes seen as a practical solution, especially in households under financial strain.
For some parents struggling financially, marrying off their daughters at a young age means less responsibility, and less expenses.
In other cases, it is driven by tradition, reinforced across generations.
The challenge, then, is not only to enforce the law, but to reshape the thinking that allows such practices to persist, experts said.
The government has, therefore, stepped up efforts to address these root causes, combining legal deterrence with economic support programmes and awareness campaigns.
Initiatives in this regard include financial aid, small business projects, and partnerships with religious and media institutions to shift public attitudes.
