Marriage is a fundamental institution in the Peruvian legal system, recognized both in the Political Constitution of 1993 and in the Civil Code of 1984. However, in native Amazonian communities this institution is regulated by customary law that frequently contravenes provisions of civil law, generating structural tensions regarding capacity, minimum age and marital consent. The objective of this research was to examine the int ernal marriage regulations of eight native Peruvian communities, of which seven in the north of Amazonas and one in the central jungle region, in order to evaluate their contradictions with the ordinary legal framework and their implications for the fundamental rights of minors. An exploratory-descriptive qualitative design was used that combined documentary analysis of internal community regulations, constitutional and legal regulations, with interviews with fifteen indigenous inhabitants between the ages of 25 and 70 years. The data were processed through qualitative thematic analysis with methodological triangulation. The results reveal that the internal regulations of the communities of Huaracayo, Cayamas, Wawik, Winchu Temashnum, Nazaret and Shipibo Konibo allow marriages of minors under eighteen years of age, in some cases from the age of fourteen or fifteen with parental authorization, in contravention of articles 241-246 of the Civil Code and Law No. 31945 that prohibits marriages of minors. It was identified that minors under sixteen years of age lack the capacity to exercise and fully discern to manifest valid legal will, essential constituent elements of marriage. Also, community regulations that delegate marriage decisions to parents constitute structural coercion that violates the autonomy of girls and adolescents, compromising their educational development, reproductive health and future opportunities. It is concluded that there is an unresolved tension between customary and civil law that requires legislative intervention through the regulation of article 262 of the Civil Code, intercultural human rights education programs developed in a participatory manner with indigenous organizations, and the strengthening of culturally sensitive protection mechanisms. Indigenous normative autonomy must be articulated with standards for the protection of human rights, as demonstrated by the Awajun Territorial Ordinance that prohibits forced marriages, constituting a replicable model that balances cultural diversity with the inalienable fundamental rights of minors.
Miguel et al. (Mon,) studied this question.