THIS statement is in response to the article, “Seven states against increasing minimum marriage age to 18” (NST, Sept 20).
Sisters in Islam (SiS) is concerned that the continued delay in amending laws to end child marriage comes at the expense of hundreds of children who continue to be exposed to this vulnerability.
As a country with ambitions to achieve high-income status, Malaysia cannot afford to allow child marriage, as it is counter-productive to the health and intellectual development of children.
As such, while efforts by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia to amend the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) 1984 (Act 303) to increase the marriage age among Muslims to 18 is commendable, we are disappointed that seven states have expressed their objection to increasing the age of marriage in their states.
The seven states — Sarawak, Pahang, Terengganu, Perlis, Negri Sembilan, Kedah and Kelantan — must explain why they insist on compromising the futures of children by continuing this practice.
Recently, Indonesia became the latest Muslim-majority country to ban child marriage by raising the age of marriage to 19.
Other Muslim-majority countries that have banned child marriage are Egypt, Kenya, Pakistan, Iraq and Jordan.
While we understand that marriage applications involving minors under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 had been tightened, adopting standard operating procedures leave loopholes prone to abuse.
As such, we reiterate our call that the minimum age of marriage must be raised to 18 for boys and girls, Muslim and non-Muslims, with no exceptions.
MAJIDAH HASHIM
Communications manager, Sisters in Islam