To be born as a female child comes with a lot of baggage; the most heart-wrenching of which is the eagerness to give her hand in marriage. This ridiculous obsession with sending a child packing to someone else out of fears of poverty or societal pressures became unbearable for rural women from 123 districts, which gathered in Islamabad to unitedly proclaim: No More. Urging the legislators and policymakers to join their crusade for the principle of gender equality already enshrined in the country’s constitution, they demanded the minimum marriageable to be set at 18 years. That child marriage is a menace padlocking the victims, rendering them helpless against increased risks of poverty, domestic violence and maternal mortality, has been known to all and sundry for far too long. Highly likely to leave education and become entrapped in a vicious cycle of childbirth, the horrors unleashed on these brides threaten to harm all that their country has achieved in the form of a population explosion. Further distressing is the loss of almost two million young women, who could have become part of the workforce and contributed to their country’s sustenance and pursuit for a better tomorrow. However, efforts by non-governmental organisations and civil society have so far failed to trickle down to rural areas. This is not to say that all is well in “developed” cities because the outdated traditions fixated on matrimony are alive and kicking no matter the number of female students in educational institutes. Good laws could still have held down the front door through heavy penalties and strict crackdowns by law enforcement agencies, but like most other matters, the state does not wish to dabble in unnecessary controversies despite tall revolutionary claims. Only Sindh felt the need to pass a marriage law spelling out the internationally-mandated minimum age for marriage. Even there, what was inscribed on paper could not be more different from the situation on the ground. The province is said to suffer from the highest number of child brides. There have been innumerable reports of those reeling from the disastrous floods hurriedly formalising the marriages in makeshift relief camps just because they do not wish to carry the extra “burden.” Ending child marriage by 2030 is a part of the UN sustainable development agenda that Pakistan is a signatory to. There remains little hope in completing this checklist unless Islamabad realises the urgency of passing laws that protect its girls and send out a strong signal. Campaigns alone cannot save millions from falling into the excruciating rigours of childbearing (often, accompanied by abject violence). They, too, deserve to live a free life. *