Two Child Rights Activists Challenge Legal Marriage Age for Girls in Pakistan
Two teenage child rights activists in Pakistan have approached the Peshawar High Court, seeking to raise the legal minimum age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18.
Maham Nafees and Lina Qamar have filed a joint petition calling for amendments to the child marriage law in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Under the province’s current law, the minimum legal age of marriage is 16 for girls and 18 for boys.
According to a report published by Dawn on Sunday (8 November), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the only province in Pakistan that retains the age of 16 for girls under its general child marriage law. In contrast, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan provinces, as well as Islamabad, have set the minimum marriage age at 18 for both girls and boys.
The two child rights activists argue that setting different marriage ages for girls and boys violates the principles of equality, human dignity and legal protection for children.
They have urged the court to pave the way for legal reforms that would raise the minimum marriage age for girls to 18.
The petition comes as child marriage remains a major child rights concern in Pakistan.
