The issue of child marriage in Pakistan requires a multi-faceted approach that includes addressing the root causes of poverty, improving access to education, challenging traditional and cultural norms, and strengthening law enforcement and awareness-raising efforts. Below are a number of recommendations to prevent and prohibit child marriages in Pakistan.
Concluding Observations by Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Concluding Observations on 5th Periodic Report adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child at its seventy-second session (17 May-3 June 2016).
Definition of the child (art. 1)
The Committee urges the State party to immediately address child marriage and recommends:
Section 17- The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation that the State party ensure the full harmonization of its legislation as regards the definition of the child so as to define a child as any human being below the age of 18 years. In particular, it recommends amending the Zina and Hadood Ordinances (1979) and the Child Marriages Restraint Acts in all its provinces, in order to align the age of marriage for boys and girls by raising the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18 years.
Section- 39 (a) Enforce legislation to prohibit child marriage throughout the country and investigate and prosecute persons, including members of local councils (jirga), who endorse harmful practices in violation of the State party’s laws and its international obligations;
Section- 39 (b) Develop awareness-raising campaigns and programmes on the harmful impact of child marriage on the physical and mental health and well-being of girls, targeting families, local authorities, religious and community leaders, judges and prosecutors and inform children, especially girls, about their rights under the Convention, including the right not to be subjected to forced marriage;
Section- 39 (c) In the light of joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices (2014), take active measures to put an end to harmful practices against children, such as burnings, acid attacks, mutilations, stripping and sexual harassment and bring perpetrators to justice.
General Recommendations
Legislative Bodies: Parliament and Provincial Assemblies
- All provisions in national and provincial laws relating to child marriages must be cognisable offences against which the police can take action with or without a complaint, as well as non-bailable and non-compoundable offence.
- Increase the legal age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18 in the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 and the Punjab Marriage Restraint Act (Amendment), 2015.
- The provincial assemblies of Khyber Pakhunkhwa and Balochistan should enact laws to curb child marriage, setting the age of marriage for girls at 18 years
- Marriage below 18 years should not be allowed under any law. It must be mandatory for the bride and groom to have a valid CNIC card at the time of marriage.
- Pakistan’s laws prohibiting child marriages do not contain provisions for dissolving a child marriage once it has been contracted or consummated. It is important to simplify the procedures and invalidate marriages contracted below the legal minimum age and declare them invalid on any pretext such as custom, religion or traditional practices.
- The procedures for verifying age are not very clear in the absence of a CNIC. Any other document, such as school enrolment certificate/matriculation certificate (if the bride or groom has it), B form, or Birth Registration certificate, should be attached as proof of age before solemnizing the marriage.
- Strengthen existing structures at provincial, district and community level to combat violence against children including child marriages.
- Eliminate inconsistencies in existing laws, i.e., Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013, and Punjab Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 2015, and these laws should take precedence over personal laws regarding age of marriage.
- Penalties for a person contracting a child marriage should be consistent with the legal provisions on rape under the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021.
- Review and amend the discriminatory laws against women in the area of divorce and maintenance, especially the personal laws as enshrined in the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, the Christian Marriages Act 1872 and the Hindu Marriage Act, 2017, which place serious procedural obstacles in the way of women seeking to end a marriage and which do not provide women with adequate financial security.
- Review and revise the one-year limitation period in the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 to ensure that complaints can be filed at any time.
- The role of the police in preventing child marriages should be defined in the laws. Appropriate definition and substance clauses should be included in the law.
Government and Enforcement Agencies
- Federal and provincial governments should develop a strategy to implement laws prohibiting child marriages.
- Registration of all marriages should be ensured to minimise the risk of child marriages. SOPs/guidelines should be prepared and communicated to concerned authorities with strict instructions for compliance.
- Birth registration of all children should be ensured and verification of age proof by marriage officials should be made mandatory.
- Training should be provided to Nikah Khawan, Nikah Registrars, Child Protection Officers and the Police.
- Political party leaders need to be sensitised on the issue of child marriages.
- The government should initiate educational and awareness programmes through print, electronic and social media to highlight the negative impact of early marriage on a girl child and society as a whole and sensitise the community on the issue of child marriage.
- Efforts to delay childbearing among adolescents should focus primarily on delaying marriage. Policies and programmatic strategies aimed at both delaying marriage and increasing educational attainment may be most effective in addressing both issues, particularly with reference to Article 25A and the Free and Compulsory Education Acts of the respective provincial/territorial governments.
- Victims should have access to support mechanisms, such as medical services, protection services, psychological and reproductive health services, rehabilitation, compensation and legal support.
- There is an urgent need for harmonisation between child and women protection agencies and local government CRVS functions, as well as improved coordination between the Department of Women’s Development and the Department of Social Welfare and other duty bearers such as the police, the judiciary, and local government officials responsible for registering marriages.
- Strong referral mechanisms should be established between law enforcement agencies for the recovery, rehabilitation, placement and protection of a victim of child marriage. Develop coordination with child protection institutes and child protection units to ensure that they provide shelter, counselling, legal and other services to victims of child marriage.
- Sufficient funds should be allocated in the budgets of relevant departments to ensure the implementation of laws prohibiting child marriages at provincial, district and community levels. More resources need to be allocated to monitor cases of child marriage, educate and train law enforcement agencies to implement the laws, and provide legal, medical and psychological support to girls who are subjected to human rights violations due to child marriage.
- The government should Integrate child marriage prevention and gender transformation into existing conditional cash transfer programmes.
Judicial bodies: District Judiciary and Higher Judiciary
- Ensure the protection of victims in court proceedings for the prosecution of child marriages, for example by not publishing their identities and allowing courts to order protective custody and waive the presence of the victim.
- The superior judiciary should develop its rules for dealing with children. This will guide the subordinate courts, including trial courts, magistrates and other judicial bodies.
- Hold government officials accountable who do not take action under the law to prevent and prosecute child marriages.
- The superior judiciary should have the protection of the child in mind when making judgments to ensure the best interests of the child as provided for in international human rights law and standards.
- Establish a mechanism to systematically track the progress of child marriage cases in court and the implementation of court judgments.
- The judiciary should be guided by the guiding principles of child justice when it comes to children in contact and children in conflict with the law, so that children are better served and protected by justice systems.
National and Sub-National Human Rights Institutions
- Develop procedures for effective monitoring of the implementation of child-friendly policies and legal frameworks, as highlighted in the concluding observations of the UN treaty monitoring bodies and in the Universal Periodic Review process.
- NCHR, NCSW, NCRC and Provincial Commissions on the Status of Women, Provincial Commissions/Authorities on Children’s Rights as independent bodies should review and examine existing laws.
- National human rights institutions should conduct inquiries/fact-finding of child marriage cases and recommend actions to protect victims of child marriage.
Civil Society Organisations
- Information, education and communication (IEC) campaigns and behaviour change campaigns (BCC) should be conducted to bring about change in policies, practices and behaviour of stakeholders.
- Initiate mass media initiatives to raise awareness about the legal age of marriage and the penalties and punishments associated with the crime of child marriage.
- Raise awareness about the disadvantages of child marriage, especially for girls and women, and the benefits of postponing marriage for individuals and the community.
- Engage religious leaders and other community leaders and build their capacity to bring about behaviour change to eliminate child marriages.
- Support victims of child marriages to access protection mechanisms and remedies, e.g. through legal counselling, legal aid and information on their rights and the procedures to claim these rights.
- In-depth, evidence-based research on the impact of child marriages should be conducted at provincial levels.
- Civil society organisations should develop a strong advocacy and lobbying strategy to address the problem of child marriage.
- Civil society should focus its social marketing efforts on changing the social norms that accept child marriage and focus on maturity and adulthood.
References/Acknowledgements
(1) NCRC. Policy Brief: The Legal Framework for Child Marriage in Pakistan. Pakistan , 2022