PESHAWAR, June 5: The participants of a consultative meeting here on Wednesday stressed the need for legislation to stop child marriages in the society.
“There is need for legislation to stop child marriages but first the religio-political leaders should be taken on board,” said former MPA Munawar Sultana.
Talking about the threats she received when she tried to table a bill on child marriages, she said that the she faced tough opposition from the religious circle.
“I was told by my colleagues that if I tabled the bill I would invite their wrath,” said Ms Sultana, who had tabled Child Marriage Restraint Act Amendment Bill, 2013 in the previous assembly but was discouraged from pursuing it.
She said that as a legislator she knew that before bringing any changes in the law to prevent and restrain child marriages, society as a whole should be made aware.
The former MPA said that poverty forced parents to get their minor daughters married without caring that it could ruin the child’s life.
The consultative meeting was organised by an organisation, Blue Veins, in collaboration with Action Aid Pakistan to discuss hurdles that stopped passage of Child Marriage Restrain Amendment Bill 2013 by the previous provincial assembly.
The civil society members, who gave their feedback during the consultation, were told that the draft prepared after holding such consultations would be presented in the provincial assembly again by lobbying with the legislators.
Qamar Naseem, programme coordinator of Blue Veins, said that such consultations would contribute to reduce ideological conflict among all stakeholders when the bill would be presented in the provincial assembly. “We would try to remove the lacunas from the draft of the bill and take everyone in confidence so that no one would label it as an NGO bill and instead own it,” he said.
Imran Takar, a child rights activist, said that there was need to enact law to stop child marriages as it was also a violation of the International Convention that had been signed by Pakistan. “The issue of child marriage exists in Pakistan,” he said, adding all stakeholders including religious scholars should be taken on board so that the issue could be resolved through legislation.
Other participants, most of them having social-sector and legal background, identified some legal lacunas in the draft of the bill. They said that Computerised National Identity Card number of a girl and boy should be made mandatory for registering their marriage.
“The age of girls should be also enhanced to 18 for signing this social contract,” they said. They also urged civil society to create awareness among people about the impacts of marriage on a child’s life.
The participants said that the draft, which was presented in the previous assembly, should be improved through such consultations before tabling it again in the provincial assembly.
