Child Marriage: Uncovering the Causes and Consequences in Contemporary Society

Child marriage is a formal or informal marriage of a child under the age of 18. Generally it is a marriage of a young girl with older man. There are approximately 700 million women around the world today who got married at young age. There would be a few factors that lead to child marriage and the effect that it gave to our society.

Firstly, unwanted early pregnancies contribute to the ubiquity of child marriage in Malaysia. A high number of muslim teens married just before they are at legal age to marry which indicate swiftness to wed before any pregnancy.

When being asked why they acquiesce their daughther ‘s marriage, parents repeatedly explain that their girls are too wild. Children who married tend to have a poor understanding of sexualand reproductive health (SRH) issues.

Secondly, another important gridlock that boost child marriage is lack of government jurisdictional responsibility over child marriage. Ministry officials state that child marriage is not within the Ministry ‘s jurisdiction because Muslim marriage are govern by state Islamic enactments and not by federal law. The recently elected Alliance of Hope Government (Pakatan Harapan) included in their manifesto a pledge to introduce a law that sets 18 as a minimum age for a marriage. This is parts of its commitment to ensure legal system protecting women ‘s right.

The most critical factor in this issue is gender discrimination that is deeply sow in our societies. Women are considered as property of their father and husband. They have no freedom or right to choose whom or when to marry. Gender discrimination shapes the social supposition that hearten the practice of child marriage. Culture and traditional practice also contribute to gender discrimination that encourage child marriage. Our new generations need to give awareness towards the old folks therefore gender discrimination can be draw to a close.

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