ISLAMABAD: The various child related laws in Pakistan conflict with one another, said Naheed Aziz, development consultant, on Wednesday.
Ms Aziz was speaking to participants of a consultation titled ‘Child Domestic Labour and Child Marriage–persisting concerns and unconcern’ at the offices of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
She said cases of child labour and marriage remain invisible and that it is difficult to ascertain the age of a child due to births not being registered.
“According to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13, half the women in Pakistan get married before the age of 19 and become mothers before 21. Girls face a lot of problems due to early marriages and their growth is also affected and their husbands face problems because they cannot bear expenses after marriage,” she said.
Ms Aziz added that though Islam gives people the right to marry of their own will, most girls are forced into marriages.
She said the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act was one of the best laws and that it makes child marriage a non-compoundable and non-bailable offence.
It suggests a year’s imprisonment for the act and declares that the minimum age for marriage for both men and women is 18 years.
“The law passed in Punjab sets the minimum age at which women can marry at 16 years which should be revisited. The law in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has an indemnity clause which says child marriages are allowed if done in good faith,” she said.
Ms Aziz added that the recently passed Hindu Marriage Act sets the minimum age for marriage at 18 though according to the law for Christian marriages, the minimum age for men is 16 and that for women is 13 which she suggested should be revisited.
Talking about child labour, she said that according to the International Labour Organisation and other formations, 10 to 12 million children in Pakistan work as labour.
“Parents misuse their children and willingly hand them over as domestic labour. On the other hand, the upper and middle class is also responsible for child labour as they prefer children to do domestic work for them as it is cheap labour and they can force children to work round the clock and without holidays,” she said.
Ms Aziz said child labourers are underpaid and harassed and that they have no way to escape.
Taliban magazine urging girls to take up jihad
Ms Aziz said the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan has launched a magazine for women titled ‘Sunnat-i-Khaula’ in which they urge women to take up jihad.
“Molvi Fazlullah’s wife writes articles in the magazine in which she tries to convince women that they should devote themselves to Islam. She has also written that she was married at 14 years of age and urges girls to marry at an early age,” she said.
Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2017
