PAKATAN Harapan must stop making excuses for delaying a ban on child marriages, as the coalition can raise the minimum age of marriage in the eight states and the federal territories it controls, said rights groups.

“What we need is a complete ban of child marriages. There is nothing positive about it,” said Sharmila Sekaran, co-founder of Voice of the Children.

“It does not benefit the child, the child’s family or society. It also affects both Muslims and non-Muslims.”

As the government, PH can start by amending the Age of Majority Act 1971 to remove the exemption for marriage and divorce under Section 4(a) of the act, she said.

Sharmila said that Section 10 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 that allows non-Muslim girls above the age of 16 but below 18 to marry with the approval of a chief minister or menteri besar should be repealed along with the respective states’ Islamic family laws that permit boys under 18 and girls under 16 to marry with the consent of shariah court judges.

“(PH) can set the tone in these states. It doesn’t have to wait for every single state to come onboard,” she said.

Yesterday, minister in charge of religious affairs Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said Malaysia will eventually ban child marriages but until the laws can be amended, Putrajaya is seeking to tighten up regulations to ensure the safety of all minors.

Mujahid said there were many laws that would need to be amended to outlaw the practice but the “short-term plan” is to enforce a standard operating procedure for agencies and officials involved in such cases.

Muslim women’s rights group Sisters in Islam (SIS) dismissed claims by the government that banning child marriages would be a long-drawn process, as it involved the amendment of both federal and state laws.

Its communication manager, Majidah Hashim, said all it took to outlaw child marriages was political will, adding that Malaysia trails behind other Muslim-majority countries, such as Algeria, Bangladesh and Morocco, banning marriage for those below the age of 18.

“When there is political will, nothing is impossible,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“The Sexual Offences against Children Act was passed under four months. SIS has been lobbying for an end to child marriages for more than 20 years already.”

PKR vice-president and Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar said she was more than ready to support a bill to ban child marriage at the ongoing Dewan Rakyat sitting.

“I’m more than ready to support such a bill during this sitting. And to ensure a moratorium is upheld in the interim,” she said.

Other lawmakers who have said they would support a move to outlaw child marriages include Charles Santiago (Klang) and Kasthuri Patto (Batu Kawan).

On Sunday, Malay daily Berita Minggu reported a marriage between a 13-year-old girl from Kelantan and a 19-year-old from Terengganu in southern Thailand last month.

The marriage allegedly took place just days after a 41-year-old Kelantanese rubber trade took an 11-year-old Thai girl as his third wife.

Apart from a RM1,800 fine for marrying the child without a shariah court’s approval, no other action was taken against the rubber trader. Authorities have not even started a probe into the marriage between the two teenagers.

Majidah said the muted response against child marriages was caused by a lack of public awareness on how children are ill-equipped to handle marriages and that the act was a form of abuse.

“Malaysia needs strong outreach programmes and public education campaigns to demonstrate the irreparable social and economic damage caused by child marriages to change mindsets,” she said. – July 26, 2018.