M’sia on right track over minimum marriage age – UN

KUALA LUMPUR: A United Nations (UN) official said the Malaysian government is heading in the right direction with regard to its effort to raise the minimum legal age for marriage to 18 years.

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, the world body’s Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, said she sensed a positive signal on the issue based on her recent discussions with the relevant ministries and government agencies.

“Definitely the political will is there,” she told a press conference here yesterday.

She is on an eight-day visit to Malaysia to gather input and data on issues related to child protection that also brought her to Sabah.

She insisted that 18 should be the minimum legal age for marriage.

The UN official however conceded that amending the relevant laws in Malaysia would not be an easy task given that the matter fell under syariah and civil jurisdictions.

“But it must be done. It requires a lot of effort. Better sooner than later,” she said. It was reported that the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry was working together with the minister in charge of religious affairs in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof to raise the minimum legal age for marriage in all relevant laws to 18 years.

The matter arose following a public outcry over a number of child marriage cases reported in the country.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children is mandated to analyse the root causes of sale and sexual exploitation of children and identify new patterns of the phenomenon.