Kuwait - March 2025

On 16 March, the government gazetted two landmark legal reforms aimed at strengthening protections for women and children. The first reform amends the Personal Status Law by raising the minimum legal marriage age to 18 for both girls and boys, up from 15 and 17 respectively. The second reform repeals Article 153 of the Penal Code, which had allowed courts to reduce sentences for men convicted of ‘honour killings,’ acts of gender-based violence committed against female relatives in the name of family honour. Authorities framed these reforms as fulfilling obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), with the changes being positively received by civil society organizations.

Sources: Official Gazette of Kuwait (1), Official Gazette of Kuwait (2), Kuwait Times, Arab Times Kuwait, The New Arab