The Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act (SCMRA) passed in 2013 makes Sindh the only province in Pakistan where the legal age of marriage for both boys and girls is 18 years. Despite this law, the Sindh government recently acknowledged the continued prevalence of child marriage cases.
This sharp increase in cases can be attributed in part to the 2022 floods, which displaced an estimated 33 million people and had a lasting economic impact that the country continues to grapple with. Conservative social norms and financial hardship have driven many families to marry off their young daughters to reduce the financial burden on the family.
In conversation with Ms. Erum Maria, programme manager of Yes I Do — an initiative aimed at empowering adolescents to advocate for their sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) — we discussed the causes behind this increase. She also shared insights into the programme’s training process, the development of a legal rights training manual for youth, and the specific benefits and obstacles of running the programme. Ms. Erum explained how economic pressures intersect with deeply ingrained social norms, reinforcing the perception of girls as financial burdens:
There is also poverty. A girl who is sitting at home, so (for events like) Eid and weddings she needs basic necessities and other things. The parents feel that her expenses are too high and she has grown up so let’s get her married. So that she goes to another house and they can take this responsibility for her.
In the 12 years since the passage of the SCMRA 2013, no other province in Pakistan has enacted similar legislation. In Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), the legal age of marriage for girls remains 16 years, creating jurisdictional loopholes that allow individuals to evade stricter laws by crossing provincial boundaries.
In Sindh, the implementation of the law faces many hurdles. A major issue is the widespread lack of awareness, not just among the general public but also among those responsible for the implementation of the law, including police, nikahkhwans (marriage solemnizers), nikah registrars, Union Council Secretaries, lawyers, and judges. Many of these individuals fail to verify the girl’s age at the time of marriage and are seldom held accountable.
Additionally, the implementation of this law vis-a-vis government oversight has been inconsistent at best and non-existent at worst, allowing cases to slip through the cracks. Since 2016, confusion has persisted over which authority is responsible for monitoring child marriage cases. The shifting of responsibilities — first to the Women Development Department under the 2016 Rules of the SCMRA and later to the Social Welfare Department under the 2021 Amendments to the Sindh Child Protection Act — further exacerbated the issue. The absence of a centralised system for tracking child marriage cases weakens enforcement, making meaningful intervention difficult.
This raises a critical question: Is the law enough? In Pakistan’s case, passing legislation is only the first step in a long and complex process of implementation. Given the challenges of implementation, what can be done in the meantime? How can child marriages be prevented while the legal system and a slow-moving bureaucracy catch-up? One answer lies in public legal awareness at the community level, specifically, for the most vulnerable – the young girls and boys at risk of child marriage.
Yes I Do: Educating Youth to Advocate for Change
The Yes I Do programme, launched in 2016 by the Sindh Agricultural Forestry Workers & Coordinating Organization (SAFWCO), was implemented in six countries, including Pakistan. It aimed to educate young girls and boys aged 15-18 years about their legal rights under the SCMRA 2013. These youth, referred to as Kirans (ray of light), received education and leadership training to engage family and community members and raise awareness regarding child marriage laws (Kiran Newsletter).
The Yes I Do programme was a successor to the Life Skills-Based Education (LSBE) program, which had already been conducted in the same districts. According to Ms. Erum Maria, the programme manager, LSBE initially faced significant backlash. Community elders, religious leaders, and the media objected to its curriculum, which included basic information regarding SRHR and puberty, and told them not to teach the children such things. In response, Ms. Erum and her team held a press conference to clarify the programme’s intent and also highlighted that all these topics are included in the standard biology curriculum, which the children will eventually have to study as well. As a result, much of the initial resistance and suspicion from the community had been addressed by the time the Yes I Do initiative was launched. She explained:
We held a press conference and gave them clarity, and a lot of things were sorted out and improved. Then when we launched the Kiran Plus project, we didn’t face any hurdles.
The Yes I Do training manual opens by outlining the fundamental rights of the children, followed by an in-depth explanation of each right as granted by the state. It then gives a detailed breakdown of SCMRA 2013, its clauses, and the legal repercussions of violating the law. It also talks about the negative impacts of child marriage on education, health, and personal development. The curriculum combined SRHR education with leadership training, requiring each Kiran to reach out to 100 community and family members to spread awareness about SCMRA 2013. The manual also emphasised the concept of consent, particularly the girl’s right to decide if and when she wants to marry. Ms. Erum noted that this legal awareness led many Kirans to take an active part in household decision-making:
When we told them about the basic rights and other things, now the girls want to be involved in the decision-making process. They want to be asked if they want to study, get married or not get married. Are we (the girls) physically and mentally prepared for it or not?
Unfortunately, the Yes I Do programme, originally planned for five years, was shut down in its third year due to the Pakistani Government’s orders for international organisations to cease operations. However, despite its premature end, Ms. Erum emphasises that the young girls involved in the programme continue to be advocates for change within their communities. So much so that their communities actively try to hide any marriages from them as they will do everything to stop it:
If there is a wedding going on somewhere, then the whole community tries that this should not reach Mahnoor, or this should not reach Shabana. If Zaryab comes to know, then we will be trapped as she will do everything to stop this wedding. So they tell me that ma’am, the community people will try that we don’t find out. But we have left our own agents there, so they tell us, and then the child protection people, they call and inform them, or they tell them about the law. They say nothing, just that they will make one call, on 15, nothing will happen, the police will come, you can talk to them, (and ask them) why are you getting married.
Their strategy is simple: they were educated, and they continue to educate others about the law. This legal awareness has acted as a powerful preventative measure, protecting not just themselves but also others in their families and communities.
Sustaining change beyond NGOs
In the project-based landscape of NGOs, the Yes I Do programme — despite being prematurely halted — managed to create a network of committed advocates who continue their efforts independently. It invites us to rethink gender reform at the community level and consider how grassroots approaches that create and engage local networks can effectively prevent child marriages, especially in an environment where the legal system is slow-moving and poorly implemented.
Ms. Erum remains hopeful about the potential of the training manual to educate more young girls and boys across Pakistan — something that is becoming all the more necessary and crucial. A recent survey by the Sindh School Education and Literacy Department reported a staggering increase, with child marriage cases reaching 40.2% in some districts. These numbers reinforce the urgent need for continued education and awareness at the community level — because when the legal system fails, knowledge and advocacy remain powerful tools for change.
