ISLAMABAD – To address the harmful practice of girl child marriage, ActionAid Pakistan, Plan International and Ideas for Life Trust jointly launched a campaign with message “Safeguard My Childhood: Stop Girl Child Marriage” at National College of Arts as part of 16 days of activism on eliminating violence against women.
The event focused on sensitising youth about the issue by involving them into live painting, poetry writing and music. Specially designed bookmarks, pocket calendars, and doll key chains were disseminated among the youth. For this campaign the organisers projected doll as the mascot which symbolises childhood. Youth from NCA were mobilised and they creatively portrayed the issue as a negative customary practice through their creative artwork.
The representative from ActionAid Pakistan Zohra Bano, Women’s Rights Coordinator said that girl child marriage leads to early childbearing, before girls’ bodies have fully developed; psychological trauma and increased risk for sexually-transmitted diseases, complications from childbirth and even death for the young mother or her baby. This challenge is global in scale and severe in impact, but with political will and sustained investments, it is solvable. We can prevent child marriage by empowering girls to have a longer, safer and more fulfilling childhood - where they go to school, play with friends, and develop their potential as productive citizens.
Sofia Naveed Gender Advisor in Plan International said while parents may think that marriage may be a safeguard for the girl, in fact it is a violation of her rights.  Her play with dolls is replaced by responsibilities for additional domestic work, looking after in-laws and husband and bearing children at an early age - putting her health as well as her child’s health at risk.

Expressing their views about the issue, youth from NCA were of the view that public needs to be made aware of the issue.  It is assumed in the rural setup girls are married at a younger age. However, in reality it equally exists in urban areas as well. Some shared their personal experience regarding the practice.
Speaking on the occasion, Sadaf Raza, Gender Resource Person, Ideas for Life Trust said that child marriage not only robs girls of their childhood and educational opportunities, but also make them susceptible to the vicious cycle of domestic violence and poverty. ‘Our focus has always been to highlight the issues which results in women being subjected to violence’, she further added.
The youth expressed their views and concerns about the practice of girl child marriage in variety of mediums. The consistent message in most of artwork is how marriage at an early age damages a girl child in terms of her health; educational opportunities, empowerment and emancipation, and how it reinforces gendered nature of poverty.