THE practice of child marriage in Pakistan has been an ongoing one in the rural areas, adversely affecting the education and health of girls. According to a UN report published in 2014, one in every five girls in South Asia is married off before her 15th birthday. Where Pakistan is concerned, approximately 29pc of girls in the rural and 16pc in the urban areas are reportedly married off before they are 18.

The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 was in place until 2013 when Sindh took the lead and amended it. This year, the Punjab Assembly also passed the Punjab Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act 2015. Under the new law, stricter punishments and penalties will be awarded to those responsible for the marriage of a minor.

Unfortunately, despite these moves, Pakistan seems to be failing in its efforts to address the problem. The media recently highlighted the case of a 13-year-old who was hospitalised for severe complications following childbirth, with medical experts voicing their concerns. In fact, the problem of child marriage should be viewed in a wider context in order to understand the factors behind the resistance of such unions to the law.

Pakistan is failing in its attempts to curb child marriages.

Marriages in South Asian societies are central to positioning an individual in society and therefore are subject to control. The system of arranged marriages is weakening in other parts of Asia, as it is in Southeast Asia, but remains strong in the subcontinent where the choice of spouse rests with one’s parents. The rural areas, where the state of education is appalling and where patriarchal authority is entrenched, are especially notorious.

Indeed, in a society where sons are considered invaluable and daughters as someone else’s property, the belief is that the sooner a daughter is packed off to her permanent home, ie her husband’s, the better it is for all. Patrilineal kinship and the treatment of women as ‘guests’ in their natal families play a role in the prevalence of child marriage. A young girl cannot stand firm against the decision of her parents if she wants to escape marriage or opt for education.

True, national statistics on child marriage show a decline, but we should ask how many such unions escape the law’s scrutiny. Literacy in the rural areas of Pakistan is low and education for girls often discouraged.

Access to proper healthcare facilities is not extended to most villages. Due to this, most girls/women deliver their babies at home under the supervision of midwives or dais. Therefore, villagers often do not have a record of their children’s age.

According to one United Nations report, over 70pc of births in the country are not registered. So if records are flawed, it is quite likely that the incidence of child marriage is higher than what official statistics state.

Poverty encourages people in rural areas to stick to practices that help their families in many ways — even if it is at the cost of women’s well-being.

This attitude stems from a general perception of woman as a commodity; young girls are often used as compensation to settle a dispute or are married in return for a bride price. Without poverty relief and without education and without the enforcement of the law, such practices are not likely to be eliminated.

Early marriage is bound up with early maternity; if a girl begins to menstruate at the age of 10, it is perceived that she can be married at the age of 11, so it is small wonder that she is ‘ready’ to have her first baby at the age of 12 or 13.

Unfortunately, without any recourse to the law or to education, girls living in the rural areas have very little chance to escape marriage as they are too weak to question such practices or to resist the system.

There is a conflict between the law and culture in Pakistani society. True, recent years have seen parliament enact women protection laws and women do have basic rights on paper that include equal opportunities for acquiring education and giving their consent in marriage. Unfortunately, the local culture discourages and prevents them from exercising these rights. Resultantly, the law to restrict child marriage is often ignored in areas where female illiteracy is widespread and it is a custom to marry off girls soon after they begin to menstruate.

In this context, the state needs to do more than just introduce legislation against child marriages; men and women need to know that marriage requires a woman and her body to be fully fit for her role and responsibilities, that menstruation does not mean a girl is physically and emotionally ready to become a mother. The truth is that children will continue to have children unless there are serious efforts to engage those who see nothing wrong in the practice. The law by itself is not enough to curb it.

The writer is pursuing a PhD in women’s studies.

@AghaNadia

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2015

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