PPP Senator Sherry Rehman presented the draft bill to the committee.
Lahore (Pakistan Point News – 30th January, 2019) The Senate Committee for Human Rights has approved a draft bill increasing the minimum age of marriage to 18 years.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman presented the draft bill to the committee. The bill proposes an amendment which increases the age of marriage from 16 to 18 years of age.
Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari remarked that the government had no objection on the proposed amendment and that the bill shall be tabled in the Parliament next month.
Child marriages are mostly practiced in the rural areas of the country and more than 140 million underage girls will get married between the years 2011-2020, said a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report titled 'Demographics of child marriages in Pakistan'.
According to the report, the child marriage remained a serious concern in Pakistan, with 21 percent of the girls getting married before reaching the age of 18 especially in the rural areas.
Moreover, being forced into marriage before one was able to give consent violates the basic human rights of boys and girls.
