Preserve Childhood- Avoid Early child Marriage!

According to the UN convention of human rights, “ a child means every human being under the age of eighteen years.” In Pakistan, however, under the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, it is said to be a child marriage if the male is under eighteen years and the female is under sixteen years.

The practice of early marriage is the most common in Sub-Saharan Africa and south of Asia. The traits of this practice are also found in Latin America and in some pockets of Eastern Europe. In Asia, however, this traditional practice is much more diverse. Afghanistan and Bangladesh have the most extreme cases with 54% and 51% cases of marriage before 18 years respectively. Pakistan is no exception.

There are strong traditional religious beliefs which gave rise to the concept of ' early marriages' in Pakistan. Along with these beliefs there are some grave issues of social, political and economic importance which back this dilemma of early marriages in today's world. The National Institute of Population Studies conducted a survey of demographic and health survey in 2006-07 but released the report in June 2008, according to this report more than one third of women in Pakistan were married by the age of eighteen.

The main factors perpetuating the concept of early marriages are numerous. Poverty comes on the top, adding to this the lack of illiteracy and our centuries old religious traditions and norms are the major contributors to this social phenomenon. In some backward areas of Punjab and Sindh the practices relating early child marriages are outrageously inhumane particularly for girls. These practices are far more deeply rooted and practiced in rural areas than in urban areas.

These practices of early marriages differ from province to province in Pakistan and have many different forms and names. Such as 'watta satta', 'vani' and 'sawara', 'vulver' and the concept of marriage to the Holy Quran. In various parts of Punjab, the concept of ' watta satta' is very much common. This practice is in real an exchange marriage between two families. People often tie their children when they are just infants. In most of the cases the consequences of such types of marriages are not fruitful and ultimately this led to divorces in both the families or sometimes ' honor killing'.

In interior Sindh , the practice of 'vani' or swara is very much known. It is a compensation for a wrong done to one family, or in order to settle a murder case. In such type of cases often the age differences are greater among the child bride being compensated and the proposed man. Another type is the effective sale of a daughter to a potential suitor, who will pay all the expenses of marriage and dowry, this type s called 'vulver', in which women is considered as a transferable property.

In many instances the age of the girl is changed on the marriage certificate to avoid any legislative hurdle. Economic hardships and social inequalities give birth to this type of marriages as a source to earn money. Bride prices range from 80,000 to 200,000 rupees and for younger ones prices are higher.

The cases of early marriages to Quran have been brought on media to create an awareness among the people, but it is an ordinary practice in much of the interior areas of Pakistan. A girl is married to the text of the Quran to devote her life and never to marry a man ever. These are all the elements of a major block ,that is, lack of education and awareness among the people. The rights of children, the rights of women, and the rights of humans all are neglected.

The consequences of early marriages are damaging. The immaturity of the child bride leads her to face many physical and psychological problems. In our male dominated society child brides often fell victim to the domestic violence. As young girls are often married to men who are much older than themselves, the age difference tends to reinforce the powerlessness of the girl . USAID Gender Assessment also suspects that child brides are more susceptible to domestic violence.

Worst of all, the issues related to health can not be neglected. The chances of HIV AIDS are greater in such cases as the older male husband may already be infected by his previous relationships. Due to religious barriers and economic conditions the girl may also not be able to negotiate about the use of contraceptives and have a safe sex.

There is a high rate of mortality in immature mothers. Research have shown that the children born to adolescent mothers are highly likely to have a low birth weight, premature delivery, injured at birth and the risk of dying during infancy is at least 1.3 times higher among the births occurring to immature mothers in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

This fact can not be denied that it is not only the girls who pay for early marriages but the whole society does. Early marriages burden the society with population pressure, growing unemployment, increased gender inequalities and the health related problems as well. This practice not only damages the psychological and physical conditions of the girls but it also threatens the international development effort against poverty which is a root cause of many social evils.