Child marriage in Pakistan seems to be taking no turn for the better as an amendment to the law has been rejected in the Senate. It is shocking that there are Senators who believe that a woman can get married before she is given the right to vote or needed to obtain a CNIC. The current legal age for girls to marry is 16 years, whereas the bill had aimed to increase this to 18 years. And the unfortunate news coincides with the United Nation Day of the Girl, which aims to direct attention to the challenges and opportunities girls face around the globe. In Pakistan, a regressive mindset still prevails which hinders women from advancing in society. The government is providing protection to male chauvinist ideals that undermine the liberty of women over their lives and legitimise countless injustices on them. While women have advanced in Pakistan on many fronts, the government has not facilitated this in any comprehensive way. Just last week when Shermeen Obaid Chinoy won an Emmy for her documentary The Girl in the River, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif congratulated her, however mere accolades and laudatory actions do not further the cause for women in Pakistan. There needs to be an initiative by lawmakers alike on these troubling issues. The amendment to the bill was rejected after it was noted that the mover of the bill, Senator Sehar Kamran, was not present. The bill was rejected after it was decided to hold a vote on the bill, in which lawmakers cited religious reasons for young girls to marry. Figures on the number of child marriages in Pakistan are contested because many marriages are not registered. Some estimates quote that about 30 percent of marriages in Pakistan fall under child marriage category. Where developments on the amendments on the bill are headed is unclear as the Senate cited it as against Islamic injunctions. Hope’s now lie on Pakistan’s signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which suggests the minimum age for marriage should be 18. International and national rights groups should step up pressure on the government to amend the bill.* Published in Daily Times, October 13th 2017.