UNDER-AGE AND FORCED MARRIAGES: AN ANATHEMA OF PAKISTANI SOCIETY

Abstract

Child marriage as a social norm has been in practice in most societies around the world. The socio-political and scientific development in last few decades made known the harmful consequences of the practice on the victims’ emotional and physical health, their educational attainment, impairment of their employment opportunities and gender parity. Appreciating the ramification of child marriage at individual level, the global conscience under the UN acknowledged the right to enter into marriage with free and full consent as a basic human right. Pakistan is signatory to various international treaties that aim to curb the practice of child marriage, and to meet the commitments under these instruments have tried to bring some reforms in the legal framework dealing with the practice. There are, however, issues of socio-cultural traditions, religious beliefs and economic compulsions that contribute in continuation of the practice in Pakistan. The instant paper attempts to contribute in appraisal of the existing legal framework on the subject and analyze the determinants of the practice and explore their causal relationship in context of Pakistan’s socio-cultural norms.
 Data analysis from various reports of Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey shows that the economic determinants of poverty and education attainment predominantly influence the age at which girls are married. Then owing to their limited social exposure and level of education, the parents of poor and rural household are more likely to get influenced by orthodox socio-cultural traditions and religious dogmas.
 Relying on evidence-based analysis, the paper derives that any meaningful policy initiative to curb the practice should primarily focus on education attainment and poverty alleviation of vulnerable population. Besides, a well-knit awareness campaign need to be carried out to clarify the misinterpretation of Islamic teachings related to girl’s maturity and preferred age for marriage along with highlighting the harmful consequences of child marriage