People in England and Wales must now be aged 18 or over to get married. The move comes even as campaigners seek ever greater freedom for under 18s to access abortion or engage in sex-change procedures.

On Tuesday, a backbench bill was approved by the House of Lords and cleared Parliament without opposition.

The bill, which was first introduced in June last year, is set to become law later this week after it receives Royal Assent, and will override the previous law that stated people can get married at the age of 16 with parental consent.

Under the new law, adults could face up to seven years jail time for facilitating underage marriages. Participating children will not face jail time.

The law also applies to cultural or religious marriages not registered with the couples’ local council.

The move has been praised by anti-child marriage campaigners. Campaigner Payzee Malika, who’s sister, Banaz, was killed in an “honour killing”, tweeted that this new law “could have saved her”.

Malika herself became a child bride at age 16, something she reflected on as the new bill passed.