Child marriages should be prohibited and the legal age of marriage in Pakistan should be raised from 16 to 18. PHOTO: FILE
Child marriages should be prohibited and the legal age of marriage in Pakistan should be raised from 16 to 18. This was among the demands of speakers at a seminar organised in Islamabad by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) in collaboration with Rutgers World Population Foundation (WPF) and Preston University.
Conducted under the Access, Service and Knowledge (ASK) programme, the seminar aimed at strengthening efforts to make Pakistan a ‘Child Marriage Free Zone’. The ASK programme is being implemented in seven countries (Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, Indonesia, and Pakistan), and is designed to provide a holistic understanding of the factors that influence young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Rutgers WPF Technical Advisor Dr Munazza Haris discussed the effects of child marriage on reproductive health and argued that early marriage has adverse effects on children because it leaves them physically and socially vulnerable to illness, poverty and gender inequality. “It increases the risk of depression, sexually-transmitted infection, cervical cancer, malaria, obstetric fistulas, and maternal mortality,” she added.
Preston University Head of Psychology Dr Shazia Khalid gave a description of the global scenario on child marriages and highlighted the causes of the practice. She also spoke on the challenges of introducing child marriage reforms in Pakistan.
Pakistan is a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which defines child marriage below the age of 18, but the country allows children as young as 16 to get married. It is argued that child marriage is a crime and an injustice because it leads to social isolation and robs children of educational opportunities.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2014.
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@poleturtle: So please give parents an opportunity to get rid of their daughters by placing them in a lifetime of servitude so that they don't have to spend time allowing their daughters to mature, learn and learn to provide for themselves???? Really?
@poleturtle: So just because the World is a harsh place you believe marriage is the only solution? What about education the girls? Or something like that? A women shouldn't need to depend on a man for her security.
Let it remain at 16. Think about the poor parents who cannot sleep at night when they see their grown up daughters at home. The world is a harsh place and a very difficult one for women. Please do not make it more difficult by increasing the agony for poor parents. After all, for those who want to marry off their daughters late, there is no compulsion any way.
I believe the minimum age for marriage should be at-least eighteen, but in today's society marriage should be discouraged until at-least twenty five or so.