PUTRAJAYA is throwing away the future of Muslim girls by allowing child marriage to continue, Sisters in Islam (SIS) said today.

The Muslim women’s welfare group said the government should have raised the marriageable age of Muslim girls to 18 instead of allowing it to remain at 16.

“Is the government going to gamble away the future of our children and young Malaysians by failing to take care of their welfare and allowing child marriages to continue?

“The government should guarantee the health, education, safety, and welfare of all children and foster a Malaysian mentality that child marriage is irresponsible and will only ruin the future of children,” the group said in a statement.

SIS said several nations in the region, including Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, have raised the age of marriage for women.

In 2019, Indonesia abolished child marriage by raising the minimum age for brides from 16 to 19.

SIS said Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Singapore have similarly set the marriageable age at 18; Thailand at 20; and Vietnam at 18 for women and 20 for men.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Idris Ahmad told Parliament yesterday that the marriageable age for Muslim women would stay at 16.

“Idris’ statement shows that he has not read and is not (aware of) the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women 1995 and Convention on the Rights of the Child 1994, which guarantee and protect the rights of women and children in Malaysia,” SIS said.

SIS said the top objectives for women should be better access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities so that they could reach their full potential and live better lives.

Malaysia is listed among the lowest-performing countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2021, ranking 112 among 156 countries and striking bottom among Asean members.

“If Malaysia does not manage this issue properly, for example, by failing to better address the problem of child marriage, Malaysia will be left far behind in trying to achieve gender equality and to close the gender gap in the global index,” it said.

SIS reminded the government of its obligations as a signatory the United Nations General Assembly’s Sustainable Development Goals.

This means putting a stop to discrimination against women and girls, as well as destructive traditions like child marriage.

The former Pakatan Harapan administration had launched efforts to raise the marriageable age to 18 in January 2020. However, the proposal met with opposition from a number of states.

Muslim marriage is governed by state laws and any legal modifications must be approved by the respective rulers.

Selangor is among the states to have changed its laws to raise the marriageable age to 18 with the consent of the sultan. –  December 17, 2021.