Over the years, the incidence of child marriage has decreased, but it is lower among women than men. The trend towards child marriage is one of the main causes of illiteracy or low educational attainment of girls. [ref. needed] It can also harm girls` physical, mental and social health, leading to serious health problems in the future. Prenatal, newborn and maternal health problems are also associated with women married before the age of 18. [ref. needed] It is also evident that child marriage is prevalent among farmers and workers. [ref. needed] Dependency on older persons and lack of independent career aspirations or job mobility still hamper efforts to limit child marriage. [6] However, there are spatial trends indicated by different trends in different villages. Exposure to urban areas has helped reduce child marriage; And finally, recognising the harmful effects of child marriage has a positive relationship with reducing child marriage, indicating a positive role of general understanding and awareness that spreads quite quickly. [6] The most important legal document in Pakistan is the CPP.

The CMRA is a criminal law that does not pronounce on human rights. While marriage is a matter of civil law in the family courts, CMRA 1929 falls under criminal law and the CR.P.C. Marriage and annulment are governed by family law, which is regulated by the Code of Criminal Procedure. Therefore, the perpetrator of child marriages may be punished, but the validity of the marriage remains, as it does not annul a concluded child marriage. This significantly hampers the deterrent potential of the law. Early and child marriage is directly attributable to deep gender inequalities, traditional practices and customs. [1] In 2015, Punjab amended the Child Marriage Restraints Ordinance 1971 and passed the Punjab Marriage Restrictions Act 2015. He increased prison sentences and fines, but left the legal age of marriage at 16.

Child marriage is practiced in parts of Pakistan, with the highest prevalence in Sindh province. The girl is disproportionately affected. [1] According to a 2013 UNICEF report, about 21% of girls in Pakistan are married before the age of 18, the lowest rate among South Asian countries. [2] [3] Child marriage is most common in rural areas and the main driver is poverty in low-income households where education is minimal. [4] The verdict was upheld by the Sindh Supreme Court on July 3. Huma Younus, a 14-year-old Catholic girl who was kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam and forced to marry her children. There are many Islamic countries where such a law exists, setting the minimum age of marriage for both men and women, such as Jordan, Malaysia, Egypt and Tunisia, etc., depending on the decision. In 2014, the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed the Sindh Child Marriage Restraints Act, which raised the minimum legal age of marriage for boys and girls to 18. In addition, the act was made a punishable offence. A man over the age of 18 who contracts child marriage could now be imprisoned for three years.

Men who have contracted a minor marriage can also be imprisoned for two to three years. Even parents or guardians who approved the marriage can be prosecuted if they did not prevent it. The complex range of definitions in legislation of who is to be considered a child is complicated. For example, under the Majority Act of 1875, a “minor” is a person who has not yet reached the age of 18. However, according to the Zina (Application of Hudood Law) Ordinance, 1979, “adult” or “adult” means a male who has reached the age of 18 and a female who has reached the age of 16 or has reached puberty. Similarly, the age of consent for sexual activity and marriage is 18 for men and 16 for women. The 1929 CMRA, dating from the colonial era, establishes a discriminatory norm according to which the age of marriage is 18 for boys and 16 years for girls. The penalty can be up to 6 months and a fine of PKR 50,000. Despite the existence of the Child Marriage Act in Sindh, the authorities have done little to enforce the law.

Although a bill has been proposed to completely ban child marriage in Pakistan, it is currently “stalled” in Parliament. The problem of child marriage is sometimes justified on religious grounds. [1] Historically, it can be explained as a reaction to invasions by outsiders; desire to maintain family worship through early marriage of the son; by the early marriage of the girl in order to avoid the discredit inflicted on the family by the presence of an adult daughter; or by the mother`s desire to marry her son early, so that she can come into possession of a daughter-in-law earlier, to whom the mother can inculcate her obedience habits and share household chores with the mother. In the case of parents, it is sometimes due to their eagerness to free themselves from the responsibility of marrying their daughter. They are also considered socially acceptable and economically desirable for reasons of responsibility to save wedding expenses, bride price/dowry. [6] The Ministry of Social Affairs has been working on drafting the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Marriage Restriction Bill 2019 (CMRB), intended to replace the redundant Child Marriage Restrictions Act 1929. The proposed bill should raise the age of marriage to 18 and provide for heavier penalties for the Nikkah registrar, fines and imprisonment. It proposes to ban verbal nikkah and make the CNIC mandatory for nikkah with marriage registration.

It also proposes compulsory birth registration; and, above all, removes all indemnification clauses. The Pakistan Senate has passed the Bill to amend CMRA 1929 – titled CMRA – Amendment 2019. It proposed raising the age of marriage for girls to 18 and imposing harsher penalties for violations of the law. The reason for this change was that “poverty, illiteracy [and] socio-cultural practices contrary to human rights are the factor in the prevalence of child marriage. Early marriage leads to early conception, which ultimately affects adolescent girls` health, usually puts enormous pressure to have children, on child brides. ” is punishable by simple imprisonment of up to one month or a fine of up to Rs 1000, or both, provided that no woman shall be punished by imprisonment. For the purposes of this section of the Act, until proven otherwise, it is presumed by law that if a minor has contracted a child marriage, the person responsible for that minor has negligently failed to prevent the marriage. [19] No court other than the magistrate of the first class can take note of or convict an offence against the law. But even he cannot take cognizance of it after one year from the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed; and unless, except in Punjab, a complaint is made by the Trade Union Council in whose jurisdiction a child marriage is solemnly consummated or will soon be consummated, or there is no trade union council in the area by such authority as the Provincial Government may prescribe for that purpose. [19] Section 498-B of the PPC prohibits forced marriages and makes it an offence punishable by imprisonment for up to seven years but not less than three years and a fine of Rs 500,000. [9] The law and rules on child marriage should be simplified and made foolproof.

It must be mandatory that the bride and groom are over 18 years old and in possession of valid CNIC cards. Both men should be required to go to the nearest city council to register the marriage by undergoing biometric testing to confirm that the CNIC belong to the same people. (If a phone SIM card requires a biometric test, why not a wedding?) ISLAMABAD: The Federal Sharia Court (FSC) ruled on Thursday that setting the minimum age limit of 16 for a girl`s marriage under the Child Marriage Restriction Act (CMRA) of 1929 would help girls receive at least a basic education. The bill was referred to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) for comment at the request of the treasuries at the ministerial level, despite the support of the House, when it was presented to the National Assembly (NA). The ICN recommended launching awareness-raising campaigns against harmful practices that perpetuate child marriage, rather than passing legislation. The NA committee could not get enough support for the membership and the bill was defeated. In 2016, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly failed to pass the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Marriage Restriction Bill, 2014, which would have raised the age of marriage to 18. On 13 October 2020, a 13-year-old Christian girl was abducted, forced to marry a 44-year-old man, converted to Islam and given a new name, Arzoo Fatima. In order to give credibility to the crime, records were compiled that accelerated his age to 18 and changed his religion to Islam.