THE issue of child marriage resurfaced on June 18, when a social media post of the marriage between a 41-year-old man in Gua Musang, Kelantan, with an 11-year-old girl from Thailand sparked national outrage.
In December 2010, a 14-year-old girl married her teacher, 23, with leave from the Syariah Court. The Kulim Syariah Court allowed the marriage between a 12-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man.
The Law Society of University of Malaya (UM) is concerned about the government’s reluctance to prohibit child marriages, which must not be allowed under any circumstance.
In a poll of UM law students, 97.7 per cent of respondents clamoured for a minimum age for one to marry, across religions and customs. In Malaysia, the current legal age for parties to marry is 18 for non-Muslims unless a licence is granted by the Chief Minister to allow the female to marry after she has completed her 16th year based on section 10 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976.
For Muslims, the minimum age of the solemnisation of marriage is when the man and woman have reached the age of majority — 18 and 16 respectively — under the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territory) Act 1984. A woman under 16 years old may get married if a syariah judge has granted permission to do so under certain circumstances.
All the respondents believe the government should take further action to harmonise the definition of “child” to eliminate inconsistencies and contradictions. In Commitment 4, No. 2 of the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, the minimum marriageable age is 18 years old.
Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail says that the issue of child marriage should be viewed in a holistic manner to determine whether the cases involve elements of paedophilia, child exploitation and child pornography.
The global partnership, Girls Not Brides, which aims to eradicate child marriage across 95 countries, has highlighted that there is limited data on child marriages in Malaysia.
The most recent statistics on child marriages revealed by the Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister dates back to 2010 — nearly 15,000 girls under the age of 15 were married in the country.
Some 82.8 per cent of respondents believe that the minimum age for marriage should be final, without taking consideration of any other factors. Currently the subject of debate, any exception to the minimum age to marry should be done away with.
Although some argue that child marriages may put an end to social ills or benefit impoverished families, the respondents believe that they do more harm than good.
Entering into a lifelong commitment at a tender age, these child brides barely comprehend the commitment and responsibility that come with legal wedlock. They sacrifice their childhood to fulfil their legal and social obligations as wives, which require a degree of maturity.
The Law Society acknowledges the religious narrative on why child marriage is allowed. But such narratives must be practised based on the current state of social morality, as laws are derivative of societal norms of a locality.
The higher objectives for society’s common good in the era of modernisation, such as the right to education of every child and the prevention of sexual exploitation of children must be taken into account.
Child marriages should not be an excuse to curb premarital sex, resolve unwanted pregnancies or allow a perpetrator of rape to marry his victim to escape punishment for the crime.
The Law Society strongly advocates that child marriages be banned in the country as they contravene several articles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Malaysia is a signatory. Tan Sri Razali Ismail of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia is against a standard operating procedure for marriages involving minors as it condones child marriages.
In the eyes of the law, a child should not marry until she is competent to consent.
The writer is vice-secretary of UM Law Society