Sabah women’s group hails bid to raise marriageable age

KOTA KINABALU: The proposal to raise the marriageable age for girls from 16 to 18 is long overdue, said a child activist in Sabah.

However, she said it was also important that the civil law age of 18 for marriage is standardised with the native and syariah laws that set the marriageable age for girls at 16. Sabah Women Action Resource Group (Sawo) president Winnie Yee said it was important to address the inconsistencies as a start to reducing child marriages in the state.

Right now enforcers of the Child Act are unable to act against marriages of children aged between 16 and 18 as native and syariah laws allow it.

“This remains a grey area and makes it difficult for child protectors to do their work on the ground,” Yee said when welcoming the Sabah government’s support of the Federal Government’s move to increase the marriage age from 16 to 18.

Yee said it was challenging for the authorities in Sabah to stop girls below 16 from marrying.

For example, such marriages can be contracted at the village level and only be registered with the district native court when the girl turned 16.

She added that in Sabah’s infa- mous case involving Ridwan Masmud, 40, who was found guilty of raping a 13-year-old schoolgirl, he managed to take the girl as his second wife under syariah law to avoid the rape charge.

Ridwan, a restaurant manager and father of four, was convicted for statutory rape and sentenced to 12 years’ jail and two strokes of the cane. He is currently in jail and remains married to the girl who has stopped schooling.

Over the 31 years of Sawo’s operations, Yee said the organisation has handled many cases, and it was clear that child marriages often fail.

On Thursday, Sabah Health and People Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wong said apart from supporting the increase in marriageable age, the Sabah Women’s Advisory Council had drawn up an interactive module for school counsellors to educate students on the negative impact of child marriages.