Senator Sherry Rehman has lauded the Government of Balochistan, its Provincial Assembly and Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti for taking a historic step toward ending child marriage by advancing crucial legislation aimed at blocking the practice.
\nShe noted that the Sindh government had passed Sindh Child Marriage Restraint 2013, followed by the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) in 2025, which she tirelessly worked for, and urged Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to enact the same protections to safeguard the rights and future of young girls across Pakistan.
\nSenator Rehman emphasized that ending child marriage is only the first step in improving the lives of girls and women nationwide. \u201cThe next step is expanding women\u2019s access to healthcare, educating families on birth spacing, and strengthening nutrition and education systems as public goods for all children,\u201d she stated. \u201cWhen women are empowered to make adult life choices, they contribute significantly to the economy, raise healthier children, promote literacy, and protect the environment.\u201d
\nCiting critical national indicators, Senator Rehman expressed concern over Pakistan\u2019s troubling maternal and child health outcomes. \u201cPakistan has the highest infant mortality rate in South Asia, with 53.54 deaths per 1,000 live births. Over 40% of children under five are stunted due to malnutrition\u2014often the tragic result of young mothers who lack education, agency, and access to proper healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referencing the UNFPA Annual Report 2024, she added: \u201cEvery 50 minutes, a woman in Pakistan dies from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. Much of this is directly attributable to underage marriage, where girls have no control over their nutrition, their health, or even the fate of their own children.\u201d
\nSenator Rehman also underscored the inconsistency in Pakistan\u2019s legal framework regarding age and maturity. \u201cThe Juvenile Justice System Act (JJSA) 2018 defines a \u2018juvenile\u2019 as anyone under the age of 18, who is not considered mature enough to be treated as an adult in the justice system. Then how can an individual under 18 be deemed mature enough to be married?\u201d
\nInvoking the legacy of Pakistan\u2019s founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, she remembered his 1929 speech in the Indian Legislative Assembly supporting the original Child Marriage Restraint Act. Quoting Jinnah, she said:
\n\u201cThe first and foremost question that I put to myself as a member of the legislature is whether child marriage is an evil in this country or not\u2026 Is it human that thousands and millions of girls are married at a very tender age, which must sap their womanhood?\u201d
\nSenator Rehman emphasized, \u201cIf we claim to uphold Jinnah\u2019s vision, we must champion the very principles he fought for: the right of girls to live, grow, and thrive.\u201d
\nReiterating her message, she concluded: \u201cWhen we empower women, we empower Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Senator Sherry Rehman has lauded the Government of Balochistan, its Provincial Assembly and Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti for taking a historic step toward ending child marriage by advancing crucial legislation aimed at blocking the practice. She noted that the Sindh government had passed Sindh Child Marriage Restraint 2013, followed by the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":66818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89754,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89744\/revisions\/89754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}