THE MINIMUM age to marry must be at least 18, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reiterated after Kedah passed a Bill to enact this position into its law.
While welcoming the recent amendment by the Kedah state assembly to raise the minimum age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18, UNICEF Malaysia noted that Muslim girls below the age of 18 could still be wed off.
This is provided they get the Syariah court’s okay. Similarly, Malaysia’s civil law allow girls between the ages of 16 and 18 to get married provided the chief minister gives approval.
“In line with the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF advocates for the minimum age of marriage to be 18 years, with or without parental consent and with no exceptions,” said Malaysia’s UNICEF representative Amanda Bissex.
Amanda called on other Malaysian states to raise their minimum age of marriage as well, as she cited the negative impacts child marriages have on its victims.
“As outlined in the UNICEF advocacy brief, Towards Ending Child Marriage in Malaysia, child marriage cuts childhoods short,” she said in a statement this evening.
“Those married as children often drop out of school, resigning them to a lifetime of limited economic prospects.”
Early pregnancy and childbirth, on the other hand, carry serious health risks, while domestic violence and sexual exploitation is “more likely” in child marriages.
UNICEF encouraged the Government and its partners to provide the resources necessary to fully implement the National Strategic Plan in Handling the Causes of Child Marriage 2020-2025.
Developed by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development during the Pakatan Harapan administration, the document provides a framework to eliminate child marriage.
It does so by addressing factors such as low household income, poverty, and a lack of access to sexual reproductive health information and services.
The national strategy plan also covers lack of access to education and poor school attendance, underlying social norms and gaps in the legal framework.
“Increases the risk of child marriage”
“Additionally, lack of access to basic services, including education, increases the risk of child marriage among migrant and refugee children,” Amanda said.
“UNICEF urges inclusion of all children in programmes and policy action to eliminate child marriage.”
Amanda said Malaysia, as it works towards high-income country status, stands to benefit from eliminating child marriage and ensuring all the children in the country are empowered, educated and healthy.
“Eliminating child marriage gets Malaysia one step closer to fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal 5 on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, in addition to eight other goals.
“(The eight) include Goal 1: No poverty, Goal 4: Quality education, and Goal 10: Reduce inequalities.”
As of 2018, at least 1,500 children got married off in Malaysia every year, Amanda said citing ministry statistics.
On Monday (July 18), the Kedah state assembly passed the Islamic Family Law (Kedah Darul Aman) (Amendment) Enactment Bill 2022, which raises the marriageable age for women from 16 to 18.
Kedah now joins Selangor as being the only two states in the country that have raised the minimum legal marriage age for Muslims to 18.
In 2018, Selangor raised the minimum age of marriage to 18, for both men and women, after Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah gave his assent.
Both the current and previous Perikatan Nasional administrations have been criticised for not being more proactive in putting an end to underage marriages.
Earlier this year, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun came under fire for saying her Government does not have any plans to ban underage marriages, even though it remains “committed” to prevent them. – July 21, 2022
