PESHAWAR: Various civil society organisations (CSOs) have applauded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly for unanimously passing a resolution urging the provincial government to raise the minimum marriage age to 18 years and make legislation to end domestic violence.

Civil Society Networks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Partners for Prevention and Response (P4PR), the provincial alliance to end early child and forced marriages, KP civil society joint working group and Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network (PCSN) in a joint statement here on Wednesday urged the lawmakers to play their role for an end to violence from the society.

The resolution moved by chairperson of the women parliamentary caucus Maliha Asghar was also signed by women parliamentarians of various political parties, including Nighat Yasmin Orakzai, Ayesha Bano, Sumaira Shams, Ayesha Naeem and Shagufta Malik.

Child rights activists believe that child marriages had a devastating impact on the lives of the children, particularly girls.

Qamar Naseem, provincial coordinator of the Alliance to End Early, Child and Forced Marriages, appreciated the women legislators for introducing this resolution. He said that Pakistan had committed to eliminating child, early and forced marriages by 2030 in line with the target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. He said that ending child marriages was critical for girls’ rights, health, wellbeing and ability to survive into adulthood.

“Ending child marriage lessens the burden on health infrastructure, reduces human suffering and enables girls and women to effectively contribute to the global human development,” he added.

Taimur Kamal, coordinator of Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network, said that child marriage constituted a grave threat to the lives, health and future prospects of young girls. Sana Gulzar, chairperson of Chapairchal, an organisation working for girls’ rights, said that child marriages potentially exposed the girls to violence.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2019