Protecting girls: New alliance formed against child marriages

Threatens to protest if K-P govt does not set legal marriageable age at 18.

PESHAWAR: Civil society organisations from across the province have formed an alliance to put an end to child marriages in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Activists from Men United (MU), Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network, End Violence against Women and Girls Alliance, Tribal NGOs Consortium and K-P Working Women Trade Union held a press conference to announce the formation on Tuesday.

During his address, MU Coordinator Qamar Naseem said a survey indicates 47% of the marriages in 2012-2013 involved underage girls, adding statistics from Human Rights Commission of Pakistan say 74% of the girls in Charsadda and Mardan districts are married off before even turning 16.

Naseem said the Sindh government has already introduced new legislation in this regard while a new child marriage law will be enacted in Punjab in the coming month. He said although the K-P government is working on the subject, there is speculation that the age limit will be set at 16.

“A penalty of Rs45,000 is likely to be introduced. This should instead be the minimum punishment for the crime,” he said, adding the government seems to be under pressure from certain sections of its hierarchy.

“When it comes to women’s rights, the Council of Islamic Ideology intervenes, but when the issue of Haq Meher is brought up, it observes criminal silence,” he said.

Naseem said the alliance will protest if the provincial government does not bring the age limit to 18.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2015.