Wanita Pakatan: Ban child marriage

Such unions have negative impact on children’s development, says Zuraida

PETALING JAYA: Wanita Pakatan Harapan has urged the Government to take concrete measures to ban all child marriages, saying that such “unions” would only cause more problems and set a negative path on the development of children in the country.

Its chief Zuraida Kamaruddin (pic) said the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry should review its steps to ban child marriages as women NGOs had found that most of these child marriages do not last, with the average duration being five years.

“This causes other problems to the young mothers who are forced to look after their kids when they are not mature enough for such a huge responsibility,” she said in a statement yesterday.

She said all children below 18 were given special protection under the Child Act 2001.

“Necessary amendments were made in

2016 to further improve the Child Act 2001 to safeguard their rights,” said the Ampang MP.

She added that legal institutions, such as the Syariah Courts in every state, should understand this aspiration and ensure that children were protected in line with universal human rights.

“Don’t let issues such as these project Islam in a negative light only because the Syariah court allows it to happen,” said Zuraida.

The Women, Family and Community Development Minister’s political secretary Rodziah Ismail said they had set up a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the approval of underage marriages under the Syariah court.

However, she stressed that the Pakatan government remained committed to efforts to raise the minimum marriage age to 18.

The implementation of the SOP followed a public outcry over the marriage between a 41yearold man and an 11yearold girl in Kelantan.

According to the Islamic Family Law Enactment, which applies in all states, the minimum legal age for marriage is 18 for a male and 16 for a female.

Those under the legal minimum age will only be permitted to get married if they get the consent of the Syariah court and their parents.

Deputy Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Religion) Fuziah Salleh said the SOP would include rigorous checks on the family background, financial position and health of both parties involved.

“Psychological checks will also be conducted to ensure that the minor understands what he or she is getting into,” she said.

She added that the SOP would also detail the proceedings of the applications such as guidelines in setting the date of mention and hearing at the Syariah court.

Fuziah said the SOP, which is being finetuned by the Syariah Judicial Department, would be made public soon, though she did not specify a date.

Meanwhile, Sisters in Islam and the Association of Women Lawyers are outraged that the Government considers itself “powerless” to nullify the “marriage”.

“The Government we voted for must do the correct thing in the best interests of the child which is paramount in all decisions taken involving a child.

“It is certainly a sad day when our Government washes its hands of it and rests on the argument that it is ‘powerless’.

“No Government is powerless unless it chooses to be,” the groups said in a joint statement yesterday.