DADU: Child marriage was a raging problem in Sindh, where outdated traditions, deeply entrenched feudal system, lack of education and awareness and a host of other factors helped this harmful practice to perpetuate, said speakers at a roundtable discussion.

They were sharing their views at “provincial roundtable discussion with political parties to push for political commitments” against child marriage organised by Sujag Sansar Organisation (SSO), a non-governmental organisation, at Dadu Press Club on Monday.

Mashoouqe Birhamani, CEO of SSO, said that child marriage was a global problem but Pakistan was among the countries where it had become more intense. His organisation had been working against this harmful practice since 2010 and highlighting the issue through awareness theater plays, he said.

He said that child marriage was a raging problem in Sindh where outdated traditions, entrenched feudal system, lack of education and awareness and a host of other reasons aided the practice.

He said that SSO with the support of Girls Not Brides and Blue Veins Islamabad was launching a campaign against child marriage in the province. The campaign was aiming to put the child marriage firmly on the agenda of decision-makers and call on them to take immediate action to address the issue, he said.

The campaign would engage leaders at different levels to help end the outdated practice and empower girls. “We have conducted community radio programs, debate competitions, interactive theater plays and speak out forums and held meetings with political parties to push for political commitments,” he said.

He said that elected representatives were key stakeholders of the campaign and they could play a vital role through highlighting human rights and child marriage issue in assemblies.

He said that journalists could also play a very encouraging role in reporting and highlighting cases of human rights violation.

Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Kulsoom Chandio said that child marriage was unlawful and punishable. Sindh Assembly had passed a law against child marriages in 2013 and but there was greater need to implement the law in letter and spirit, she said.

She said that her political party was striving for the protection of women and would table strict laws in the assembly against perpetrators of the child marriage.

Journalists of different electronic and print media outlets said that they would report child marriage cases effectively.

Concluding the event’s proceedings the SSO representative said that it was very important that they should all play their role to check child marriage to save lives of hundreds of girls who fell victim to the harmful practice.

Religious leaders and representatives of civil society organisations also participated in the event.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2022