Blog 5- Child Brides: More Needs to be Done

This article addressed several preventable measures that should be taken in Pakistan relating to child brides and the age in which a woman should pursue marriage. Amongst these preventative measures is that of instituting international legislature stating an increase of legal age of marriage to 18, a consensual marriage and relationship rather than forced, and lastly instituting more education and awareness for young girls (Salwar, 2015).

These three measures are currently underway, according to author Amina Sarwar, stating that Punjab government has raised the “penalty for parents and clerics who perform child marriages to one month to a six month prison term” (Salwar, 2015). Another hopeful sign of a country free of child brides is the fact that United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children has made progress with “giving women the same rights as men” and establishing “the right to free and full consent of marriage” (Salwar, 2015). Regarding the third measure of education and awareness, UNICEF is stressing this importance and is attempting to get Pakistani government to allow girls access to more education (Salwar, 2015).

There are a lot more measures that need to be taken to ensure freedom for children and though only three things were spoken of and brought about, it is a sure sign that the world is coming around and more things are bound to be done.

                                                            Work Cited

Sarwar, A. (2015, March 18). Ending child marriages: more needs to be done In dailytimes. Retrieved from http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/18-Mar-2015/ending-child-marriages-more-needs-to-be-done

Time Stamp: 9:16pm 3/20/2015