Rejected petition Ban marriage between first cousins.

This would mean changing two pieces of legislation: the Marriage Act 1949 and the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

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Ending 1st cousin marriage would be positive for:
Cohesion. Boosting social integration, ending communities living separate lives
Freedom. Enhancing individual liberty, particularly of women
Health. Reducing debilitating genetic disorders

Many of worlds most prosperous countries have banned 1st cousin marriage including most US States & Norway (Sweden & Denmark are actively considering bans). The UK, which led the world tackling forced marriage and raised the marriage age to 18, should act now.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:

Ban cousin marriages
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/710027

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 5 March 2025
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