Activists: Malaysia still not acting in the best interest of kids

PETALING JAYA: By refusing to reform the law and make child marriage illegal, Malaysia is not acting in the best interest of children, say rights activists who are lobbying for a total ban on child marriages for all, regardless of race or religion.

The ministry’s introduction of new standard operating procedures for marriages involving minors is insufficient and will, instead, provide yet another loophole in the law for the practice of child marriages to continue.

“There are no guarantees that strict guidelines and operating procedures will work in preventing child marriages as these will all still be subjective,” said Sisters In Islam executive director Rozana Isa.

“Even if they pass whatever ‘tests’ that are going to be introduced and are healthy, under no circumstances should a child be married off because of the inevitable disadvantages she will experience in relation to her rights to education, potential in career and employment, sexual and reproductive health and her overall wellbeing.

“We really need to re-examine the way we think about children. We don’t seem to have their best interests in mind. What kind of standards do we have in Malaysia? Are we ensuring that our children are thriving, educated and well looked after? How are we giving our children the best?” said Rozana.

Every case of child marriage is a violation of a child’s rights, said executive director of the Asia Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (Arrow), Sivananthi Tha­nen­thiran, and every case should be considered meaningful.

“The issue of child marriage is an important one in Malaysia. We have to address it because having poor and vulnerable girls being married off early creates an inter-generational cycle of early marriage, early pregnancy, early divorce, and further impoverishment (both money-wise and opportunity-wise) of families.

“Within Malaysian law and according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child – the girl is still a minor and a child, and the government has to protect her. Even if it is one person, an act of injustice is still an injustice. However, data indicates that early marriage is becoming a norm,” said Sivananthi.

There are at least 152,385 children aged between 15 and 19 who are married, according to the 2010 population and housing census – this is more than double the 65,029 that was recorded in the 2000 census.

While the 2010 census did not specify a further breakdown of child marriages according to age cohorts – everything was lumped into marriages under the age of 19, the 2000 census revealed that 10,267 children aged between 10 and 14 were married.

“The data that we have shows an alarming increase in child marriages in Malaysia. Existing structures that are in place are clearly not working to prevent child marriages,” said Rozana.

Apart from changing the law to protect girls from early and forced child marriages, the government must address the dire need for programmes to support children who are already in marriages.

“While we should aim to end child, early and forced marriages, we should also ensure there are programmes and interventions to reach out to those who have already been married off young – they are still in need of empowerment (be it through education, training, starting a business, understanding their rights), or we will just leave this group in an already dire situation,” said Sivananthi.