The proponents of the reform argue that there is concern about the consequences that early marriage can have on the life of a minor, such as unwanted pregnancies, greater risks of experiencing situations of sexual violence and the intergenerational transmission of poverty. Another risk that the proponents identify, based on studies by UNICEF and other international organizations, is the high tendency to drop out of school, which results in a loss of economic autonomy.

At the end of the month, a Senate commission resumed discussion of this bill. This week, the representative of Unicef ​​in Uruguay, Francisco Benavides, and the organization's Child Protection Officer, Lucía Vernazza, appeared before the commission. The experts stated that the bill "is a step forward, but that the minimum age should be 18 years without exceptions," Vernazza said in statements to La Diaria.

"We consider that this bill is a step forward that is in line with the recommendations of both the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Cedaw Committee, organizations of which Uruguay is a part, but we think that a step further should be taken because this bill admits an exception between the ages of 16 and 16, and the position of the human rights organizations and of these committees is 18 years for marriage without exceptions," she said.

Representatives of the Inter-American Children's Institute, part of the Organization of American States (OAS), welcomed the initiative, which, if approved, would bring Uruguay into line with "international standards." They also suggested that "one step further" should be taken and exceptions for marriage should be eliminated, according to the director of the institute, María Julia Garcete.

The expert warned that child unions may be linked to “other forms of violation of rights that constitute crimes, such as sexual abuse and exploitation of children and adolescents in which families are often consciously or unconsciously involved,” she said, according to the Uruguayan media. Garcete believed that the text should also “indicate the maximum age difference allowed between the contracting parties when one of the two is a minor.”

Official data only contains figures on child marriages contracted in the last two years. In 2022, there were 22 marriages in which at least one person under 18 years of age was involved. In 18 of the cases, that person was a woman; in three cases, it was a man; in one, both were minors.

In 2023, meanwhile, there were 24 unions. There was only one case in which the minor was a man; 21 cases in which the woman was a girl or adolescent; and one in which both were under 18 years old.

In the Uruguayan Parliament, the proposal has had some objections. Guillermo Domenech, a legislator from the ruling Cabildo Abierto, was the first to question the project, stating that it is part of an “ideological conception” that seeks to “contradict the nature of the human being.”

“Human beings acquire their sexual maturity at a certain age and from then on they can procreate. I am not in favor of early marriage and I think that, like all things, it is desirable to have a certain amount of life experience, but I must say that this project is absolutely unnatural, because we cannot prohibit cohabitation,” he said.