Child Marriages In Pakistan
Child Marriages Sindh from Amir Khan on Vimeo.
Child Marriages In Pakistan
Vani is a child marriage custom in tribal areas of Pakistan. Besides tribal areas, it is widely followed in Punjab in Pakistan. This custom is tied to blood feuds among the different tribes and clans where the young girls are forcibly married to the members of different clans in order to resolve the feuds. The Vani could be avoided if the clan of the girl agrees to pay money, called Deet. This custom is illegal in Pakistan but still practiced in some areas. Recently the courts in Pakistan have begun taking serious note and action against the continuation of the practice. This is a serious crime in Pakistan.
The annual number of child marriages taking place in Pakistan remains unknown. It is believed most such forced marriages, many occurring in relatively remote rural areas, go unreported.
Amnesty International (AI), in a report in 2002, found that such marriages were widespread, despite increased awareness about violence against women in all forms. The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), has been campaigning against forced marriages in Pakistan, but for the present, despite these efforts, the trend continues, rights activists say.
The Sindh and southern Punjab region is one of the most impoverished in the country, and research carried out into the issue indicates this is a key factor in the increase in such unlawful unions, with parents often tempted to sell off young girls in exchange for the high price offered by grooms, often many times the age of their ‘brides’.
Bride prices commonly range from $1,400 to $5,000, with younger girls drawing a larger amount. Families facing acute economic hardships have stated they have “no choice” but to sell off girls to older men, while in many cases the deal is made by a single, almost invariably male member of the family, such as the father or grandfather of the girl, without consulting other family members.
“It’s a perverted society in many ways. We have reports that such marriages are becoming increasingly common, and they will stop only if the law is applied,” Hina Jilani, UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, told IRIN.
Under Pakistani law, the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 states no female under 16 or male less than 18 may marry. But like other pieces of legislation aimed at protecting the most vulnerable members of Pakistani society, the law is rarely enforced.
There are however exceptions. In March 2004, a judge in the town of Dadu in Sindh, ordered protection for Akhtiar, a 7-year-old girl, sold by her father to a 35-year-old man for marriage. The child had been able to escape her husband’s clutches, and her mother had gone to court to prevent the sale of her daughter.
Despite the laws, such interventions remain relatively rare. Organisations running schools for girls in rural areas of Khairpur and other locations in Sindh have reported that in many cases, girls are unable to complete their schooling as they are married soon after reaching their teens or even earlier.
The impact of child bearing, on girls who have not yet reached maturity themselves, is also often extremely adverse in terms of both their physical and emotional well-being.
Asia, 15, who was married off three years ago, is now back at her parents’ home, near Khairpur, with her two small children. Her mother, Dilshad Bibi, told IRIN the girl, sold off by her father to a 30-year-old man as his second wife, had been “treated like a slave”, raped, tortured and then kicked out of her husband’s home after he took a still younger girl as his third wife.
Under Islamic laws enforced in the country, men are permitted to take up to four wives. The legal provision that states this can only happen with the consent of existing wives, are widely ignored, as are those requiring the consent of both partners in any marriage.
Organisations such as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) have documented cases of torture and physical violence against girls sold of by their fathers. The victims include girls as young as nine or 10 years old.
“There needs to be greater awareness on a wider level of the rights of women and children and also punishment for those who violate laws by selling their children. The impunity available to them has aggravated the situation,” said Jilani.
Meanwhile, Sumera, continues to playfully finger the bright, sequined shirt and skirt that she will wear on her wedding day, laying out the bangles that match it. For her, the entire event is little more than a child’s game. But she has yet to know how the game will end.
According to a recent report, 24 per cent of girls married under the age of 18 worldwide last year were from rural Pakistan, whereas 18 per cent were from the country’s urban areas. The issue of child marriage raises several health concerns for young girls, some of which include pregnancy complications, health risks for babies born to young mothers and the risk of death. The report said that girls pregnant under the age of 15 have a five times greater chance of dying compared with girls pregnant in their 20s. Early marriage can also thwart personal development and growth as a child constantly undergoes physical, mental and emotional changes before reaching adulthood. In Pakistan, young girls are sometimes married off to older men, which poses the risk that the girls might become conditioned to acting submissive towards their older male counterparts. This can also stunt their personality development.
One obvious thing that girls married young miss out on is education. At a seminar recently held on the issue, it was reported that girls married young have more chances of remaining poor than those who marry later. Moreover, girls should first be equipped with at least basic education so that they have something to rely on should a spouse end the marriage or pass away.
While the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 says that the police cannot intervene directly in underage marriage, implying that Sharia law is to be consulted, the government needs to intervene. Child marriage should be prohibited and the legal age of marriage should be raised from 16 to 18. Pakistan is signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Children which defines child marriage below the age of 18; yet, the country allows marriages at age 16. The civil society also needs to work towards eradicating certain false assumptions in our culture, such as that religion sanctions child marriage. This seminar is a step in the positive direction but we hope that our lawmakers also take notice and amend child marriage laws.
Vani is a child marriage custom in tribal areas of Pakistan. Besides tribal areas, it is widely followed in Punjab in Pakistan. This custom is tied to blood feuds among the different tribes and clans where the young girls are forcibly married to the members of different clans in order to resolve the feuds. The Vani could be avoided if the clan of the girl agrees to pay money, called Deet. This custom is illegal in Pakistan but still practiced in some areas. Recently the courts in Pakistan have begun taking serious note and action against the continuation of the practice. This is a serious crime in Pakistan.
The annual number of child marriages taking place in Pakistan remains unknown. It is believed most such forced marriages, many occurring in relatively remote rural areas, go unreported.
Amnesty International (AI), in a report in 2002, found that such marriages were widespread, despite increased awareness about violence against women in all forms. The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), has been campaigning against forced marriages in Pakistan, but for the present, despite these efforts, the trend continues, rights activists say.
The Sindh and southern Punjab region is one of the most impoverished in the country, and research carried out into the issue indicates this is a key factor in the increase in such unlawful unions, with parents often tempted to sell off young girls in exchange for the high price offered by grooms, often many times the age of their ‘brides’.
Bride prices commonly range from $1,400 to $5,000, with younger girls drawing a larger amount. Families facing acute economic hardships have stated they have “no choice” but to sell off girls to older men, while in many cases the deal is made by a single, almost invariably male member of the family, such as the father or grandfather of the girl, without consulting other family members.
“It’s a perverted society in many ways. We have reports that such marriages are becoming increasingly common, and they will stop only if the law is applied,” Hina Jilani, UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, told IRIN.
Under Pakistani law, the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 states no female under 16 or male less than 18 may marry. But like other pieces of legislation aimed at protecting the most vulnerable members of Pakistani society, the law is rarely enforced.
There are however exceptions. In March 2004, a judge in the town of Dadu in Sindh, ordered protection for Akhtiar, a 7-year-old girl, sold by her father to a 35-year-old man for marriage. The child had been able to escape her husband’s clutches, and her mother had gone to court to prevent the sale of her daughter.
Despite the laws, such interventions remain relatively rare. Organisations running schools for girls in rural areas of Khairpur and other locations in Sindh have reported that in many cases, girls are unable to complete their schooling as they are married soon after reaching their teens or even earlier.
The impact of child bearing, on girls who have not yet reached maturity themselves, is also often extremely adverse in terms of both their physical and emotional well-being.
Asia, 15, who was married off three years ago, is now back at her parents’ home, near Khairpur, with her two small children. Her mother, Dilshad Bibi, told IRIN the girl, sold off by her father to a 30-year-old man as his second wife, had been “treated like a slave”, raped, tortured and then kicked out of her husband’s home after he took a still younger girl as his third wife.
Under Islamic laws enforced in the country, men are permitted to take up to four wives. The legal provision that states this can only happen with the consent of existing wives, are widely ignored, as are those requiring the consent of both partners in any marriage.
Organisations such as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) have documented cases of torture and physical violence against girls sold of by their fathers. The victims include girls as young as nine or 10 years old.
“There needs to be greater awareness on a wider level of the rights of women and children and also punishment for those who violate laws by selling their children. The impunity available to them has aggravated the situation,” said Jilani.
Meanwhile, Sumera, continues to playfully finger the bright, sequined shirt and skirt that she will wear on her wedding day, laying out the bangles that match it. For her, the entire event is little more than a child’s game. But she has yet to know how the game will end.
According to a recent report, 24 per cent of girls married under the age of 18 worldwide last year were from rural Pakistan, whereas 18 per cent were from the country’s urban areas. The issue of child marriage raises several health concerns for young girls, some of which include pregnancy complications, health risks for babies born to young mothers and the risk of death. The report said that girls pregnant under the age of 15 have a five times greater chance of dying compared with girls pregnant in their 20s. Early marriage can also thwart personal development and growth as a child constantly undergoes physical, mental and emotional changes before reaching adulthood. In Pakistan, young girls are sometimes married off to older men, which poses the risk that the girls might become conditioned to acting submissive towards their older male counterparts. This can also stunt their personality development.
One obvious thing that girls married young miss out on is education. At a seminar recently held on the issue, it was reported that girls married young have more chances of remaining poor than those who marry later. Moreover, girls should first be equipped with at least basic education so that they have something to rely on should a spouse end the marriage or pass away.
While the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 says that the police cannot intervene directly in underage marriage, implying that Sharia law is to be consulted, the government needs to intervene. Child marriage should be prohibited and the legal age of marriage should be raised from 16 to 18. Pakistan is signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Children which defines child marriage below the age of 18; yet, the country allows marriages at age 16. The civil society also needs to work towards eradicating certain false assumptions in our culture, such as that religion sanctions child marriage. This seminar is a step in the positive direction but we hope that our lawmakers also take notice and amend child marriage laws.