Page 15 Ending Sex Discrimination in the Law EQUALITY NOW – BEIJING+25 In the United States though, for example, there is no federal law on child marriage and the minimum age of marriage is left to each of the 50 states to decide, 48 of which have ages below 18. Hence, we have included in this report the sex discriminatory law from the state of Mississippi, one of several U.S. states which allows girls to be married off at a younger age than boys. Relatedly, consistent with the recommendations and general comments of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Equality Now does not promote a specific minimum age of consent to sex. Rather, States should not criminalize adolescents of similar ages for factually consensual, non-coercive and non-exploitative sexual activity. We must continue to work hard to ensure that no child, anywhere, becomes a bride or groom under legal contract, including under customary or religious law or social contract, no matter what the age of consent to sex may be. Below are examples of laws which must be amended or repealed. CUBA Family Code: Article 3. Men and women have authority to make their marriage official when they are over 18 years old. Therefore, those that are younger than 18 years old do not have authority to make their marriage official. Notwithstanding what was just stated, exceptionally there are justified reasons so that those under 18 years old have authority to make their marriage official, as long as the female is at least 14 years old and the male 16 years old. Take action – Cuba President Miguel Diaz Canel Hidalgo Esq. 6 Plaza de La Revolución, CP 10400 Email: despacho@presidencia.gob.cu cuba_onu@cubanmission.com (Mission to the UN in New York) Twitter: @DiazCanelB Note: Cuba’s new Constitution came into force in 2019. The Cuban government is reportedly in the process of amending the Family Code to ensure that it complies with the provisions of the new Constitution. Article 42 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, 2019: All people are equal before the law, receive the same protection and treatment from the authorities, and enjoy the same rights, liberties, and opportunities, without any discrimination for reasons of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ethnic origin, skin color, religious belief, disability, national or territorial origin, or any other personal condition or circumstance that implies a distinction injurious to human dignity. Article 43: Women and men have equal rights and responsibilities in the economic, political, cultural, occupational, social, and familial domains, as well as in any other domain.