Child Marriage in Pakistan

10th March 2014:
Council of Islamic Ideology opposes laws against child marriage

Council of Islamic Ideology rules that the age restriction on child marriage are anti-Islamic because children can get married under the supervision of their guardians, who are responsible for ensuring the rukhsati and consummation of marriage as soon as children approach puberty. CII also opposes laws on polygamy, claiming that they have complicated the issue.

13th March 2014:
Disband the CII

Nawaz Sharif gives his approval to remove laws on child marriage and polygamy laws.

14th March 2014:
Nawaz Sharif gives his approval to remove laws on child marriage and lift restrictions on polygamy

Civil society demands disbandment of CII, calling its function redundant and its policies regressive because of CII’s history of opposing pro-women legislation and recommendation to remove child marriage clauses.

24th March 2014:
Marvi Memon (PML-N) moves resolution demanding harsher punishment against child marriage

Marvi Memon moves the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Bill to amend child marriage laws, proposing harsher punishment for any party involved in child marriage.

25th March 2014:
Civil society seeks to enact Child Restraint Act 1929

The Child Rights Movement (CRM) seeks to increase the minimum age for marriage for girls, and criticizes CII for misleading people.

26th March 2014:
Marvi Memon defends Child Marriage Amendment Bill

Marvi Memon defends bill to amend child marriage laws, and clarifies it isn’t a reaction to the CII’s statement, affirms that bill will be in accordance to Islamic laws and will be consulted on with Islamic scholars.

30th March 2014:
Sindh Assembly calls for dissolution of CII

Sindh Assembly calls for dissolution of the CII for their regressive policies, and demands to include mandatory DNA testing as evidence in rape cases, despite the CII’s ruling that it is un-Islamic.

28th April 2014:

Sindh Assembly passes Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2013

Sindh Assembly is the first provincial legislature to take the laudable step of approving a bill opposing child marriages, but proposes only a lenient three years imprisonment for violators.

 22nd May 2014:

Council of Islamic Ideology Endorses Child Marriage:

On Wednesday, the CII endorsed its earlier ruling that girls as young as nine years old were eligible to be married, “if the signs of puberty are visible”.

May 30th, 2014:

Speakers call for increasing minimum age for marriage at seminar

Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) in collaboration with Rutgers World Population Foundation (WPF) and Preston University organized a seminar on making Pakistan a “Child Marriage Free Zone.”

June 07th, 2014:

Child marriage prohibition act’s draft discussed

Punjab Assembly Women’s Caucus criticizes Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) at a meeting of Alliance against Child Marriages (AACM), discusses draft of Child Marriage Prohibition Act 2014.

June 02nd, 2014:

Child Marriage Restraint Act comes into effect  

The governor of Sindh Ishrat-ul-Ibad signed the much-lauded Child Marriage Restraint Act, to be effective immediately.

June 19th, 2014:

K-P plans to set marriage age at 18

The provincial government plans to table a bill in the next assembly session to ban the marriage of those under the age of 18. At the ‘Understanding young girls and mothers’ issues’ consultative workshop on Wednesday, treasury bench MPA Ziaullah Bangash apprised the attendants of the government’s plans to place an age ban. The event had been organised by Rahnuma Family Planning Association and CARE International Pakistan.

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