Lawmakers in spain are almost finished drafting legislation that would raise the minimum marriage age from 14 to 16 there, but whilst the intention behind the shift is good, very little evidence on the ground seems to support the move.

Should that matter if there is an overarching philosophy to protect potential victims of child marriage or is it just lip service in a world where Spain’s most vulnerable children are not likely to register their marriages with the state and so remain largely invisible, and ultimately immune to legislative protections like this one?

That tension is at the heart of the debate, which wil be aired in full in the Spanish senate next week as the House discusses the proposals.  Whilst the marrying age in Spain is 18, there are exceptions which allow 14-16 year olds to marry. Any 16-year-old wanting to marry can do so with parental permission, while 14-year-olds are allowed to marry, but they require permission from a judge to do so.

Under the new law proposed, 14 and 15-year-olds would no longer be able to marry, while 16-year-olds would require permission from a judge or parental consent to tie the knot.

Charities within Spain are quick to defend the move, citing forced marriages and a gender imbalance which sees girls married off at a much younger age than the boys marrying them, as reasons to change the law. However, the number of children recorded as being involved in such marriages is small and it is not clear whether these unions happened under duress, or not.

Advocates of child marriage would argue that the new legislation encroaches on the teenager’s right to make a choice, however child welfare activists take an opposing view. They suggest that raising the age of marriage in this way would allow children a greater say in a decision which not only potentially impacts upon their health, but also their education and overall quality of life.

Child welfare activists, who have been lobbying for a change in the law, may be trying to stem child marriages which are not yet on their radar. They cite religious communities and other minority demographics as possible sources for child marriage, though very little is known about the children who find themselves engaging in the practice.

And whilst the number of child marriages in Spain appears to be increasing, any notion that the new legislation might reduce the practice is likely to be unfounded. If child marriages are taking place within small, elusive and often hidden communities, laws like these will have little impact on the phenomenon. Often carried out without state registration, using only customary rituals and practices, child marriages are notoriously hard to detect – and legislation alone will not be able to stop it.

If countries like Spain wish to reduce forced marriages involving children, they must reach out to those communities taking part in the practice and start to engage with them. Only then will they be able to make a difference.

So what do you think? Does raising the marrying age protect children or should we look to ways of ascertaining which marriages are sound and which are based in duress?

The Digital Single Market is a new project which aims to unify EU countries online and ensure individuals in every member state have equal access to resources and commercial opportunities. The idea, as stated on their website, is to improve people’s lives and provide a simple and accessible way to connect, and converse. The goal, in reality, is to  promote the free flow of online services and entertainment across national borders.

Although we’re not mad on the name (it feels cold and too corporate), the idea is an interesting one. Next month, the EU will officially set out its proposal for a strategy to make the Digital Single Market a useful and efficient way to access information and connect with people (although the report has already, unofficially, been leaked), but the DSM site as it is, is still very much in beta phase – some links don’t work and it looks messy.

The website is also multilingual. Currently, the text is in French, German and English. The site also looks like it wants to be a crowdsourcing effort, with Ideas, Evidence and Video pages all allowing members (you have to register to use the site), the ability to upload and share data. There’s even a page for polls asking things like, “Should there be a multilingual news source to enhance the exchange between countries without constant English-filter?” Touché.

The site also wants to encourage general debate. And that’s where child welfare comes in (and how we found the site). One conversation thread, which appears to have been started by someone working for the European Child Safety Online NGO Network (ENACSO) is entitled, “Removal and blocking of child abuse images (‘child pornography’)” It’s just a small piece that makes no controversial or questioning remarks, but it clearly hopes to incite conversation.

Whether this site will take off is yet to be seen, but it is a noteworthy development within the digital revolution and an interesting platform for its implicit political agenda and its part too, to play in the work revolution.