Last month, the Sindh Compulsory Marriage Act, 2021, was presented in the assembly. It was opposed and then turned down owing to its grave future repercussions for the state. The bill stated that the parents of an adult who has not been married off have to submit before the deputy commissioner an undertaking that proposed a justified reason for delaying the marriage of their children. Moreover, they could also face a fine of Rs500 for each of their unmarried children.
The ostensible motive behind the bill was to curb the menace of child rape, crime and other immoral activities. No matter how pure the intentions of the government were to pass such legislation, analysts have disapproved such an ill-planned, inarticulate and nonsensical method of reforming the society. They believed that if the bill had been implemented, it would have brought a myriad of social challenges for the government to tackle and made it easy for abusive families to marry their daughter off forcefully. Also, the prospect of children of gaining education and securing a bright future would have been dashed to the ground.
Right activists maintained that Pakistan has already sixth-highest number of women married or in a union before 18 and it should not introduce a legislation of such kind that has the potential to raise the figure.
Early marriages have undermined the women rights, their ability to study and educate themselves and become strong and independent. Child marriages also hinder women’s role in contributing towards the economic stability and development of the state. According to a study by World Bank in 2017, child marriage will cost developing countries trillions of dollars by 2030.
According to experts a host of factors are responsible for child marriages in Pakistan including deep-rooted traditional norms, patriarchal culture, lack of support for girl’s education, poverty and insecure social environment for girls. Analysts opine that in Pakistani households, parents are forced to marry their daughter early as the society assumes it to be the right case due to high rates of rape and harassment issues. Observers say the parents get worried about protecting the “honour” of their daughter that appears as a burden upon their shoulders.
The demographic and heath survey (DHS) of women in Pakistan revealed that in 2017, 39.5 per cent women in their early twenties had been married before the age of 18. In Punjab, the figures registered 29.9 per cent, while in Sindh, it was 43.1 per cent. It has also been proved through research that child marriages are also common in Pakistan because the decision of the concerned girl before marriage is not preferably taken and she is expected to submit before the final decisions of her elders.
For instance, in Punjab, it was found that only 4.8 per cent say that they have control over if, when, and whom to marry. It is considered shameful for girls to talk about getting married and “good girls” should not interfere in the decisions of the parents and elders.
Women’s right activists Mukhtaran Mai claimed that most of the girls are married off in Punjab at a very early age due to local customs and traditions. “Exchange marriage — or watta satta — is quite common. Young girls are also married off to settle blood money, tribal disputes and property feuds. They are given away like animals," Mai said.
Due to early marriages, women have to pass through the traumas and pains of early pregnancies and bear the brunt of rearing up more children than her actual age. Her physical strength decreases greatly and most of the time her husband does not support her financially and make efforts to promote her health and physical well-being. In early days of her life, a girl makes plans and ambitions to study and pursue a strong career but what she usually gets is a husband mostly having a vile temper and dozens of children to look after.
Qaisar Khan, a political activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, proposed “poverty” as the biggest reason of child marriages in Pakistan.
"In newly merged tribal districts and Malakund district, people take 500,000 rupees (€2,660, $3,180) to 2,000,000 rupees from men wanting to marry their underage girls. Most of these men are wealthy and already married," Khan explained.
Another female child rights activist Habiba Salman maintained that marrying the minors off is a common tradition in Chitral and young girls can be sold off for 2.5 million Pakistani rupees.
According to activists the government is to be blamed for not taking stringent actions against child marriages in Pakistan. The lack of proper legislation to curb the issue and lax attitude of police, law enforcement agencies, child protection bureaus and other relevant departments in responding to the reports of underage marriages are creating more hurdles in successfully handling the issue.