LAHORE:
LAHORE: In Pakistan, men have priority over women in almost all matters. Male guests will first sit at a family dinner, recruiters will prioritize male students so that recruiters will prioritize male applicants. However, there is an issue in which society has ironically sanctioned women to receive priority; The age at which your childhood can be sacrificed in the name of culture.
According to the Punjab (amendment) marriage restriction law of 2015, the minimum age of marriage for boys is set at 18, while girls could marry at the age of 16. In April 2024, the Superior Court of Lahore ruled that the minimum age of marriage for children should be 18 years. After this decision, the Punjab government drafted a law on the issue of child marriage, to increase the age of consent of girls at the age of 18, however, the legislation remains to end.
Nabila Shaheen, provincial coordinator of the Aurrat Foundation, said that although family customs were the main reason behind early marriages, they also include a religious element to some extent. “However, the religious opposition should not be an obstacle in this legislation since the minimum age of girls’ marriage has also been set at 18 in Sindh. Therefore, I believe that political parties themselves are responsible for not enacting this legislation, ”said Shaheen.
“Several legal and religious difficulties are brought in the way to increase the minimum age of consent for a girl from 16 to 18 years in Punjab. Poverty and illiteracy in rural areas promote child marriage, since families try to reduce their financial burden by marrying their daughters. At the state level, the pressure of religious groups and some feudal legislators may have prevented the government from approaching this problem, ”said Nida Usman, lawyer and founder of the women’s initiative in law.
On the other hand, Hina Pervaiz Butt, president of the Women of Islamic ideology. “Personally I think that even 18 years are too young to marry a girl, but if the consensus is at this age, then it must be implemented,” said Butt, who urged the Islamic Ideology Council to understand the problems that arise from children’s marriages.
According to the Pakistan of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), girls who marry early have a higher risk of domestic abuse and health problems, including high -risk pregnancies, fistula, sexually transmitted infections and childbirth complications . According to health experts, due to early marriages, multiple health complications arise during childbirth since the girl’s body is underdeveloped and cannot support childbirth load. This contributes significantly to high rates of maternal and child mortality.
UN reports claim that 50 percent of women in Pakistan are married at the age of 19, while 13 percent are married at the age of 15. As a result, 9 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 have become mothers. Although it may seem that children’s marriages would be less frequent in Sindh, where the minimum age of marriage is set in 18 for both boys are girls, minor girls continue married long before their legal age.
Recently, “climatic marriages” have emerged as an important challenge, with 45 minor girls married in a single town in Dadu during the rains of the monsoon last year. According to the data provided by the Inspector General of the General Police Sindh to the Department of Interior of Sindh, 57 cases of child marriage were recorded in eight Sindh districts between 2018 and 2023, with the largest number of cases, 21, reported from Dadu.
The situation is much worse in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where, to date, effective legislation could not be devised to protect minor girls from children’s marriages. According to local reports, the practice continues to affect the minor girls in the province, where a total of 153 cases of child marriage between May 2011 and December 2023 in 12 districts were reported, while innumerable others remain unknown.
The Express PAkGazette tried to communicate with Dr. Raghib Naemi, president of the Council of Islamic Ideology, however, he decided not to respond. On the other hand, Qibla Ayaz, former president of the Council, admitted that in the current context children’s marriages were problematic.
“Public awareness must be raised about children’s marriages so that parents themselves avoid the cassation of their girls at an early age. Although I consider appropriate for today’s age, it is legally not correct for everyone to apply this condition. Instead of changing the law, it is necessary to take measures to challenge culture, ”said Ayaz.
