Too young to be married?

THERE have been calls for the government to set the minimum age for marriage at 18 years for both women and men in all legal frameworks without exception.

Underage marriages are strongly correlated with poverty and level of education. It happens in any society where there is an imbalance in wealth distribution, and children are the weakest fragment and are normally the most victimised.

The International Women’s Alliance for Family Institution and Quality Education (Wafiq) supports measures to stop forced marriages that are potentially harmful physically or socially to very young brides or grooms.

We categorically condemn cases where girls were forced to marry much older men, and instances where young girls were treated as objects or commodities as their families try to escape poverty.

However, a good policy addresses the needs of all segments of society. It does not aim for one-size-fits-all solutions, especially in an issue as complex as marriages that are deeply related to one’s culture and religion.

In Malaysia, under Sections 10 and 12 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act, non-Muslims can only be legally married if they are at least 18 years or age. They would require parental consent for marriage if they are below 21. Under this law, they are considered minors if they are under 21 and are not widows.

However, the law provides for an exception, where a girl aged 16 can be legally married if the Chief Minister or Mentri Besar of a state, or in the Federal Territory the Minister, or in diplomatic missions abroad the Malaysian Ambassador, High Commissioner or Consul respectively, authorises it by granting a licence.

For Muslims, the minimum legal age for marriage in the states’ Islamic family law is 18 for a male and 16 for a female. Those below these age limits can still marry if they obtain the consent of a Syariah judge.

In Sabah and Sarawak, there are customs that allow a girl between 14 and 18 years of age to wed with the consent of the family. Many still have problems registering their marriages under the current mechanism, and the children of these young couples often cannot be registered as they are considered to be from unlawful marriages.

Muslims are not spared. As in the peninsula, Muslim couples in Sabah and Sarawak are required to undergo marriage courses by the Islamic authority. But due to the size of the states, the relatively poor transport system and the fact that many are still living in remote areas, even those who are above the age limit to marry find it hard to fulfil the requirement, resulting in their marriages not being lawfully registered. As a result, their children cannot be registered as citizens as well.

We have been told by NGOs and activists working in one-stop centres for women that there have been cases where three generations in a family have not obtained the necessary documentation simply because of the cumbersome registration process.

Raising the age of marriage will only increase the proportion of those who will fall into this category, and we will have more cases of stateless children. We will have to meticulously investigate this matter before we adopt a blanket ban on underage marriages.

Among the reasons given to ban underage marriages completely and to increase the age limit are education and high divorce rates. Several countries are cited as examples, namely Algeria, Bangladesh, Morocco, Egypt and Turkey.

It would be wise to objectively assess whether we are really left behind in our educational attainment compared to these countries. In the World Economic Forum 2017 ranking, educational attainment in Malaysia is ranked at 63, Algeria 84, Morocco 99, Bangladesh 95 and Turkey 92. We are higher than these countries despite not adopting the total ban on underage marriages. Our decision therefore must be based on an objective assessment.

Those urging for a total ban on underage marriages also cite the issue of high divorce rates as a concern. Young marriages without support from families are exposed to high possibility of divorces. In Malaysia, a report by the Syariah Judiciary Department states that the divorce rate among underage marriages as monitored by the authorities was 0.4% in 2015, which is lower when compared to the national rate.

Young pregnancies are also being advanced as a reason to ban marriage among the underaged. It is said that teenage pregnancies have higher risk for complications. However, there should be concrete evidence to link marriages sanctioned by the Syariah Judiciary Department among Muslim teenagers to direct obstetric harmful effects because the data may be compounded by those of teenage pregnancies out of wedlock.

We should be more concerned about teenagers or children engaging in sexual relationships out of wedlock. Several studies have addressed this.

In fact, one local study by S. Sulaiman et al in 2012 that compared obstetric outcomes of teenage pregnancies and adult pregnancies concluded that “the long-held beliefs about the risks related to teenage pregnancy are not all justified. Early booking, adequate antenatal care and delivery by trained personnel should improve the obstetric and perinatal outcome in this age group.”

Putting a blanket policy without assessing other factors such as maturity and family support may instead increase cases of sex out of wedlock among those below the legal age.

This may result in more teenage pregnancies without a registered and responsible husband. We may also find ourselves dealing with more statutory rape cases when these can be avoided by allowing the two consenting parties to enter into a lawful marriage.

We propose that the Government tightens the procedures for granting permission for underage marriage but not a complete ban by enacting laws to mandate consent of the parent(s) or guardian of the bride and a confirmation letter from the Attorney General’s Chambers of any impending investigation and/or criminal charges in any application for underage marriage.

More importantly, the National Registration Department and all Islamic authorities would also have to review the procedures to allow a couple to register their marriage in order to address the issue of stateless children.

We propose that the government tightens the procedures for granting permission for underage marriage but not a complete ban.