Pakistan Takes a Historic Step The Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2025

The President, Asif Ali Zardari, has officially made the Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2025, a law, supporting children’s rights and equality between men and women. By making the legal marriage age 18 for all people, the historic legislation indicates that Pakistan is working to reduce child marriages.

As well as creating a new rule of law, this act shows larger society’s concern for children and desire to postpone having children settle adult responsibilities before they can handle them.

A Unified Legal Framework Across Pakistan

.In the past, there was not one clear rule for the minimum marriage age in Pakistan. Among the age requirements set by federal law, girls could marry at 16 but boys had to be at least 18, making things unclear because the provinces set additional standards. In 2013, Sindh became the first province to amend its laws and set the marriage age limit for all genders at 18. Yet, Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stay with the system left over from when the country was establish.

The Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2025, has made it possible for all states to have the same law. This approach helps to make the law easier to interpret and strong positive message that Pakistan opposes people marrying too young.

Stringent Penalties for Violators

A major benefit of the new law is that it creates firm methods to make sure people follow it.

• Any Nikah Khawan who officiates a marriage for someone underage could be imprison for a year and fined Rs. 100,000.
  
• An adult man who weds an underage girl could be sentence to up to three years in prison for that act.

• According to the law, any time a minor is involve in sexual relations with their spouse, even if it was given voluntarily by the minor, that acts as statutory rape. It carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail and a fine starting from Rs. 1 million.

It is also a crime for parents, guardians, religious officials or marriage registrars to get a minor involve in these unions.

Child Marriage in Pakistan: A Persistent Challenge

A 2018 UNICEF report said that almost 18% of girls in Pakistan married before they turned 18, giving Pakistan the lowest rate among South Asian countries except for Sri Lanka.

There are many factors, each complicated in its own way, that cause this practice.

Because of poverty, some families encourage marriage at a young age so that expenses decrease or their daughter may gain a dowry.

Traditions and strong social values state that marrying early is As a result, many believe that it helps to protect teenage girls.

Little formal education: Families whose children have little opportunity for schooling are more inclined to think marriage is the best future for females.

Most often such marriages stop a girl from learning, restrict her freedoms and make her more likely to experience gender-based violence, become pregnant at an early age and face health challenges.

Health and Psychological Consequences of Child Marriage

Girls’ health is most at risk from child marriage.

Childbirth dangers for girls are twice as high as for adult women.

Because of their young bodies, little girls are more likely to have trouble delivering the baby, developing incontinence and facing other afterbirth issues.

Many young brides suffer from depression, anxiety and PTSD after facing trauma, being alone and experiencing abuse.

Being born to a mother who is very young raises a child’s risk of being malnourished, being thin at birth and not living through infancy.

Economic Consequences: A National Concern

Not only does child marriage damage individual lives; it also affects the economy. According to a 2021 report from UN Women, Pakistan lost $0.8 billion (0.42% of its GDP) in those two years due to the toll of early marriage. The cause of these losses is:

Less schooling

A decline in the number of women working

Costs for medical care have gone up.

A greater number of children and mothers die as a result.

If girls put off marriage, they can study, gain work-related skills and earn money, helping their country develop.

Reactions from Human Rights Groups and Civil Society

Human rights groups, women’s rights organizations and legal experts have all welcomed the bill. The Guardian, publishing internationally, said the new law “provides a glimmer of hope in the wake of retreats on women’s rights worldwide.”

Groups promoting children’s and women’s rights in Pakistan were please by the move. In a statement, the HRCP of Pakistan said

Enacting this legislation is a great achievement, but it is just the outset. To be fully effective, awareness initiatives, community participation and training judges should be Carrie out.”

Implementation and Enforcement: A Key Challenge

It is easy to make new laws, but tough to make sure they are follow. Previously, protecting children in Pakistan has been damage by difficulties in enforcing laws, not enough information being known and strong opposition from some groups. In January 2025, the Lahore High Court filed cases against Nikah Khawans who had not entered accurate ages for child marriage in marriage registers.

The Child Marriage Restraint Bill will work best if these steps are follow:

It is important for the country to run nationwide campaigns explaining the new law to the public and the harm of child marriage.

All police, judges and registrars should be trained to carry out the law rightly and sensitively.

Relighous engagement: Contact religious leaders to confirm their teaching that child marriage is prohibited under Islam and stand with efforts to improve standards for minors

Historical Background: The Long Road to Reform

Reforming laws that permit child marriage in Pakistan began years ago. One of the first actions taken, during British rule, was the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929. Then, the law set the age at 14 for girls and 18 for boys, while later it was updated to say 16 for girls. Since then, groups supporting animals and lawmakers have supported better animal rights laws.

In 2013, it was Sindh that was the first province to set the legal marriage age at 18. Many culture-related obstacles and opposition from conservatives kept the national reform from advancing. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the 2025 bill unanimously, indicating that this issue is getting wider agreement across Canada.

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Looking Ahead: Toward a Child Marriage-Free Pakistan

While the Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2025, is a big step, Pakistan must keep moving forward by keeping the efforts, support and political action going.

Future steps could include:

integrate child rights education into educational activities to provide resources to young people.

Collect better information about underage marriage cases so that it is easier to prosecute people involved.

Encouraging education: Give scholarships to family members who make sure their daughters continue in school.

Conclusion

Pakistan’s fight for gender equality and children’s rights reached a key point with the passing of the Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2025. When the country set the minimum age for marriage to 18 for all citizens, it followed worldwide human rights guidelines and built support for an improved and fairer future.
Still, laws by themselves do not stop child marriages. If awareness, participation by communities and enforcement are strong, we can see child marriage end in Pakistan.

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