LITERATURE REVIEW

Naveed and Butt (2015) said that the problem of Child Marriages is quite common and pervasive
practice and an instrument of gender based violence against women and high population growth
rate in South Asia including Pakistan. Though Child Marriages Restraint Act, 1929 (CMRA) got
reformed in India and Bangladesh, but remained toothless and out-dated in Pakistan. In fact
Pakistan had accepted UNCRC way back in 1990 but her law on child marriage has not been
harmonized with it. Child marriages take place mostly in the pretext of poverty, illiteracy and
gender inequality. The physical, social, psychological and economic consequences of child
marriage are severe on girls, who are generally pulled out of primary/secondary education and
more likely confront physical, emotional and sexual violence. Pakistan is in the midst of
demographic transition and a big portion of the population comprises of children. This youth
bulge without ample opportunities poses a threat to the social fabic, if not tackled appropriately.
A serious attention is needed to transform this bulge into a productive future resource of the
country only if this portion of the population is properly guided and educated in a healthy and
constructive environment.
Ahmed (2013) observed that early marriage not only exploit womens physical well being
but it also affects their mental peace and if not taken care of, these females may tend to attempt
suicide. Marriage at early age appear fascinating to such teenagers as they think of love and good
care but they do not know the responsibilities which they have to shoulder after marriage; often
girls are abandoned to work load and bad family approach towards them. Marriage at young age
is not supposed favorable to girls protection and other economic reasons as teenage is for
education, maturity, grooming oneself and an age for learning various life experiences. Quality
education, moral support and family ethics can lend a great helping hand for such girls to be
aware of the health consequences which can make them eligible to deal better in future.
Tristam (2014) said that child marriage has many causes like cultural, social, economic
and religious. In many cases, a mixture of these causes results in the imprisonment of children in
marriages without their consent. Poor families sell their children into marriage either to settle
debts or to make some money and escape the cycle of poverty. Child marriage fosters poverty,
however, as it ensures that girls who marry young will not be properly educated or take part in
the workforce. In certain cultures, marrying a girl young presumes that the girl's sexuality,
therefore the girl's family's honor, will be "protected" but ensuring that the girl marries as a

virgin. The imposition of family honor on a girl's individuality, in essence robbing the girl of her
honor and dignity, undermines the credibility of family honor and instead underscores the
presumed protection's actual aim: to control the girl. Child marriage is a product of cultures that
devalue women and girls and discriminate against them. "The discrimination," according to a
UNICEF report on "Child Marriage and the Law," "often manifests itself in the form of domestic
violence, marital rape, and deprivation of food, lack of access to information, education,
healthcare, and general impediments to mobility." Many countries such as Pakistan have laws
against child marriage. The laws are not enforced. In Afghanistan, a new law was written into the
country's code enabling Shiite, or Hazara, communities to impose their own form of family law-including permitting child marriage.Poor families are tempted to sell their girls not just into
marriage, but into prostitution, as the transaction enables large sums of money to change hands.
Waheed (2015) said that in Pakistan, there are various causes of early or child marriages.
The most amongst those causes are: extremely weak legislation; lack of implementation of the
existing laws; children are treated commodities/slaves; tribal and feudal structure of society; lack
of awareness in the public about harmful effect of child marriages; extreme poverty; internal
trafficking; and lack of will in the government. Another important cause of the child marriage is
ineffective and non-responsive birth registration system. The birth registration for children,
especially girls is never prioritized, which gives room for manipulation of the age of the
child/girls at the time of marriage. In addition, there are no central, independent and strong child
rights bodies that could monitor child rights violations including the issue of child marriages.
Psychological impact on the girls when they enter into such relationships they are young the
education and background and hostility of relationships and environment like dispute settlement
further adds to their miseries. Limited choices and bodily control Awareness about reproductive
rights and information of contraceptives is often lacking, which results in teenage pregnancies,
and large family size. Thus they are unable to break the poverty cycle as large family size
prohibits them from educating their children.
The NEWS (2015) found that one of the most comprehensive surveys of child marriage
in Asia has revealed that deeply entrenched traditions and views are still forcing young girls into
early marriage, says a press release. Disturbingly high rates of child marriage, particularly of
girls, prevail in rural areas of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. The research finds that child
marriage, including of girls aged 12-14 years old, endures with widespread support among

members of the community, parents, and children themselves. Research found a direct link
between levels of education (for both children and parents), income, access to economic
opportunity, and access to sexual and reproductive health services and levels of support for child
marriage in a community. Improved access to each of these met with a corresponding decline in
levels of acceptance of child marriage.
Limited education opportunities, low quality of education, inadequate infrastructure, lack
of transport and therefore concerns about girls safety while travelling to school significantly
contribute to keeping girls out of school and therefore tend to favour child marriage. Although
there is widespread awareness of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 (PCMA) and the
illegality of child marriage, individually people feel that the traditions and norms are stronger
than the law and the institutions and rarely report cases. On top of this, there is limited capacity
among officials and lack of willingness to go against community decisions, since officials are
themselves part of the community. Girls are often seen as a liability with limited economic role.
Womens work is confined to the household and is not valued. In addition, there is the problem
of dowry. Despite the fact that dowry has been prohibited for five decades (Dowry Prohibition
Act, 1961), it is still common for parents of girls in India to give gifts to the groom and /or his
family either in cash or kind. The dowry amount increases with the age and the education level
of the girl . Hence, the incentive of the system of dowry perpetuates child marriage.

Law

enforcement to prohibit child marriage is relatively weak. Limited detailed knowledge on how to
apply laws and little understanding of the consequences of the laws, as well as limited trust in
institutions enforcing them, undermines the implementation of the PCMA. The families and girls
who might benefit from social protection programmes are not always aware of them and these
schemes are often limited to providing cash transfers without the accompanying messages to
address the multi-dimensional nature of child marriage. The fallout of this is that cash transfers
tend to perpetuate dowry, since parents use the grant for that purpose as soon as the girl turns 18
years old.
Lauro and Greene (2013) stated that the causes of child marriage are complex and often
interrelated; some of these include poor economic conditions, traditional practices and sustained
denial of human rights. In low-income families, the lack of economic alternatives contributes to
the practice, as marriage to an older man may be seen as bringing economic security for the
girl and sometimes for her entire family. Furthermore, disasters and emergencies may increase

economic pressure on households, making child marriage a common practice where it was not
previously acceptable. In many contexts it is considered normal for young adolescent girls to
marry older men and is justified as a tradition or customary practice essential to preserving a
familys honor and a girls virginity. In a broader sense, the acceptance of marrying a girl as a
child is part of a cluster of social norms and attitudes that do not value the human rights of girls.
In this sense, child marriage is symptomatic of social and cultural traditions, attitudes, and
beliefs that deny women and girls their rights and stifle their ability to play an equal role in their
homes and communities.
IRIN (2003) stated that in many societies, parents are under pressure to marry off their
daughters as early as possible in an effort to prevent her from becoming sexually active before
marriage; a woman who does so brings dishonor to her family and community. Because marriage
often determines a womans status in many societies, parents also worry that if they dont marry
their daughters according to social expectations, they will not be able to marry them at all.
Forced child marriage also is a route to cementing family, clan, and tribal connections or settling
obligations. For example, in Pakistans Northwest Frontier Province, Afghanistan and in some
parts of the Middle East, marrying young girls is a common practice to help the grooms families
offset debts or to settle inter-family disputes.
In Bangladesh, parents feel the pressure to marry their daughters early out of fear that a
girl may make an unsuitable match of her own or that malicious gossip will circulate about her
and spoil her chances for a good marriage (Huq and Amin 2001).

References

South Asian Studies Naveed, S. and Butt, K.M. 2015. Causes and Consequences of Child
Marriages in South Asia: Pakistans Perspective. A Research Journal of South Asian Studies. Vol.
30,

No.2,

pp.

161

175.

Ahmed, S., Khan, S., Alia, M., & Noushad, S. (2013). Psychological impact evaluation of early
marriages. Int. j.endorsing health sci. res. 1(2).

Tristam. P. 2014. Child Marrriage: Facts, Causes and Consequences; Discrimination, Sexual
Abuse,

Trafficking

and

Repression.

Retrieved

from:

http://middleeast.about.com/od/humanrightsdemocracy/a/child-brides.html
Waheed.

N.

2015.

Early

child

marriage

in

Pakistan.

Retrieved

from:

http://www.hamariweb.com/articles/article.aspx?id=66744
The NEWS. 2015. High rate of child marriage in Bangladesh, Pakistan and
Indonesia. Retrieved from: www.thenews.com.pk/print/73890-high-rate-ofchild-marriage-in-bangladesh-pakistan-and-indonesia#
IRIN UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Pakistan: Tribal Custom Forces
Girls into Compensation Marriages, IRIN News, August 20, 2003; cited in Virtual slavery:
The

Practice

of

compensation

marriages.

UNFPA.

http://www.unfpa.org/gender/docs/fact_sheets/marriage.doc
Lauro, G. and Greene, M.E. 2013. Child Marriage: a Universal Issue. Retrieved from:
https://mencarecampaign.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/child-marriage-a-universal-issue/ .
Huq, L. and S. Amin. 2001. Dowry negotiations and the process of union formation in
Bangladesh: implications of rising education. Unpublished manuscript.