Pakistan pledges end to underage, forced marriages by 2030

UNICEF report ranks country sixth in world in underage marriages

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has committed to the United Nations that it will ensure an end to underage and forced marriages in the country by 2030 in line with its plan to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the country is reporting an abrupt increase in the incidence of underage marriages. As per a recent report published by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Pakistan ranks sixth in the world in the number of underage marriages.

According to the UNICEF report, the number of underage marriages recorded in Pakistan is in excess of 1.91 million. About 21 percent of women in Pakistan are married before they attain the age of 18 while 3% are married before they turn 15, UNICEF reveals in its report.

As per the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13, about a third of all women in Pakistan attain motherhood by the age of 20 while one in every four married women aged between 20 and 24 have been through child marriage.

Another report on the subject, released under the title ‘Girls-Not-Brides 2018’, says that over 10.2 million girls throughout the world are married every year before they attain the age of 18, indicating the seriousness of the child bride problem. Based on the report’s statistics, 23 girls become child brides every minute while a child marriage takes place every two seconds.

According to the UN report, there are over 700 million women around the world who have been married even before the age of 15. The report ‘Girls-Not-Brides 2018’ also states that, globally, over 150 million men are also facing complications arising from underage marriages.

According to the UN’s definition, a person under 18 years of age is considered a child. Any marriage involving such a person would, therefore, be considered an underage marriage. Based on extensive medical evidence, underage brides’ physical growth is also adversely affected by such marriages.

Experts on the subject also claim that child brides face extreme physical stress due to the fact that they are deprived of their rights as children and are prematurely burdened with excessive responsibility. In addition, impregnation of child brides can also prove fatal.