According to a UN Population Fund (UNFPA) report, child marriage is a serious violation of girls’ human rights. In Pakistan, one in three girls is married before reaching the age of 18. Child marriage is a human rights violation and a practice that undermines efforts to promote sustainable development. Deeply rooted in Sindhi traditions, culture and customary practices, however, child marriage remains a widespread practice across Pakistan. According to the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef), up to three per cent of girls are married in Pakistan before the age of 15 years and 21 per cent are married before they turn 18. These statistics are based on the findings of the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS).
Moreover, recent research entitled “Demographics of child marriages in Pakistan” by World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that most child marriages were in practice in rural areas as compared to urban areas and more than 140 million girls will marry between 2011 and 2020. In Pakistan, the majority of child marriages were reported in the province of Sindh, where 72 per cent of girls and 25 per cent of boys become victims of child marriage. Meanwhile, in Baluchistan and Punjab province, the child marriage practices involved 66 per cent of girls and 22 per cent of boys. The highest rate of the girl child marriage practices was recorded in the tribal areas of Pakistan where 99 per cent of girls are married through unlawful, traditional practices. Social norms, family pressure, weak enforcement of the law, patriarchal system and poverty are the main reasons behind these child marriages.
We all know that Pakistan has failed to achieve its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets related to maternal and child health but Pakistan was also among the first states, which proposed a target to end child marriage by 2030, in discussions of the Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals, a major inter-governmental process.
Although the Sindh government takes credit for becoming the country’s first elected assembly to have passed a bill on child marriages, sadly, the law is still poorly implemented
Social, political, cultural and religious norms determine the nature of relationships within Sindhi society; enforcing rigid divisions and clear hierarchies. Women in Sindh are often marginalised, economically and politically. They are made increasingly vulnerable to gender-based violence. Of its many forms, child marriage is the most harmful; depriving young women of their basic rights and rendering them vulnerable to physical and psychological abuse. The young age of child brides and their limited power in decision-making (sexual, financial or otherwise) leaves them financially and socially insecure. Within Sindh, a large number of girls leave schools due to their vulnerability to being married off in tender age. The small number of schools in villages, lack of transportation, poor safety and security, lack of sufficient infrastructure, basic water and sanitation service in schools are other factors. Sukkur, Ghotki, Naushero Feroz Larkana, Jacobabad, Badin, Mipurphas, Thatta, Sanghar and Khairpur Mirs have a high frequency of such incidents but due to unavailability of data, the evidence is hard to develop.
In terms of child marriages, Sindh is the first province to have a law against child marriages; Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013, (SCMRA). The legislation made child marriage a cognisable offence; empowering the police to arrest those involved. The act also deemed child marriage a non-compoundable offence; barring the families involved from striking an out-of-court settlement. Within the law, it is mentioned to increase the minimum age of marriage to 18 and make marriages below 18 a punishable offence. The SCMRA is an upgraded version of the Child Marriages Restraint Act, 1929. Although the Sindh government takes credit for becoming the country’s first elected assembly to have passed a bill on child marriages, sadly, the law is still poorly implemented.
I remember a few months ago, a 17-year-old girl tied the knot with a 27-year-old man in Sindh. Interestingly, the nikah registrar gave the family a marriage certificate, too. But the girl’s national identity card number on the nikahnama (marriage certificate) was missing because she was a minor. No action was taken by the local police because they were bribed for keeping mum.
Just to highlight for my readers, most Muslim countries have increased the minimum marriageable age, including Libya (20 years); Kyrgyzstan (18 years); Bahrain (21 years for both women and men); Morocco (18 years); Eritrea (21 years for men and 18 years for women); Algeria (19 years); Qatar (18 years); United Arab Emirates (18 years); Lebanon (18 years); Albania (18 years); Oman (18 years); Bangladesh (18 years); Kazakhstan (18 years); Mali (21 years and 18 years); Tajikistan (18 years); Sierra Leone (18 years); Mauritania (18 years); Kosovo (18 years); Comoros (18 years) and Djibouti (18 years). These figures give us a clear picture that all these Islamic countries and many non-Islamic countries have raised the minimum marriageable age. This is a good step, indeed, and we should appreciate these countries.
Talking about SCMRA, it is not properly being implemented in Sindh. Under this law, District Monitoring Committees (DMCs) should be notified but they exist only on papers and have a poor response at the local level. These DMCs need more institutional support to act as effective platforms to prevent early marriages. Police officials are not much aware of the law. However, some civil-society organisations have done some work to promote awareness and translate law in local languages to reach a limited coverage of the communities. Local nikahkhuwans have poor awareness about the law in solemnising marriages. Thus, still, a large number of nikahkhuwans need to be formalised about all legal aspects.
I believe child marriages cannot be curbed through legislation alone. They require coordinated efforts from the government, civil society and media. All of them should work in tandem to sensitise doctors, lawyers, teachers and other members of the society about the negative effects of child marriages. These marriages snatch childhood from innocent children. However, in Pakistan, if you can’t drive, are ineligible to vote and contest in elections and are even barred from entering into contracts before you turn 18, how could girls be allowed to get married before that age, considering how huge a social obligation a marriage is?
The Pakistani government needs to prohibit underage marriages and remove the confusion between religious interpretations as well as federal and provincial laws. Pakistani girls don’t need husbands. They need equality, decent education and good health care.
The writer is a social and political activist based in Lahore. He has done his Masters and MPhil in Communication Studies. He can be reached at [email protected] and tweets @Salmani_salu