Young brides

The Senate Standing Committee on Interior has rejected an amendment proposed in the Child Marriage Restraint Act to increase the minimum age of marriage of a girl child from sixteen to eighteen years. Women’s organisations and the media have criticised the decision. This is because in spite of the existing law being in force, marriage of girls much younger than sixteen is taking place. The local administration and the police are apparently unable to take action as no formal report of the crime is made to them. This happens because the two families and the community are complicit in the crime while the poor girls, the victims of this outdated custom, cannot stand up and protest.

The situation is unlikely to change because the problem lies primarily in the social attitude, customs and traditions which need a radical change. NGOs working in rural areas for welfare and uplift of women may be tasked to undertake the exercise of changing the mindset of society. The whole process calls for sustained counselling and persuasion carried out with tact and patience, involving all sections of the community, especially its men. At the same time a mechanism must be evolved for promptly reporting all cases of violation of this law to the local governments and to the provincial and federal departments dealing with the protection of the rights of women.

M Zubair Farooqui (Islamabad)