Canon Law and Marriage

My friend Mary Ann Dantuono, Associate Director of St. John's University's Vincentian Center for Church and Society, has been involved with the UN sessions on Violence Against Women.  She raises this for our consideration:

"The Canon Law allows marriage if the woman has reached the age of 14 and the male 16.  Acceptable standards world wide at this point recognize that there should be no difference in age and that it should be 18 for both.  Could some Catholic legal minds begin to articulate a cohesive argument based on Catholic reasoning that would encourage Canon lawyers to begin the process to change Canon Law."

Canon 1083 indeed views marriage to be valid if the "woman" is 14 and the male 16.  Each episcopal conference has the authority to set a higher minimum age as a prohibitive impediment to marriage.  Some have apparently done so; e.g., in Canada and New Zealand the age is 18 for both.  The USCCB has not acted to set a higher minimum wage.

Any thoughts on the issue?