NGO: People use religion as excuse for child marriage

Sharifah Syahirah Syed Sheikh of the National Council for Women's Organisations claims anyone giving such an excuse is abusing their religion to defend an ancient tradition.

KUALA LUMPUR: Child marriage is not part of any religion, but exists simply because certain quarters are using religion to defend an ancient tradition, says a representative with a women’s rights non-governmental organisation.

National Council of Women’s Organisations (NCWO) member Sharifah Syahirah Syed Sheikh said a lot of times girls who have accidentally gotten pregnant are compelled to get married not because of economic reasons, but for the sake of the family’s dignity.

She said that although dignity was something intangible, it is very important in conservative families. She added however, that it was not only confined to the Malay community.

“Even in the United States, when rape happens or when children are born out of wedlock, the girl is pressured to start a family.

“In terms of religion, if we see the phenomena around the world, child marriage is not because of religion.

“If anyone uses religion to defend child marriage, I think they are just abusing religion to defend an ancient tradition,” she said in a forum on children’s rights today.

Sharifah, who was one of the speakers, said this was also proven in a small-scale survey she had carried out among 300 respondents in 2014, covering Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Johor and Selangor.

She stated that a majority of the respondents had disagreed that religious teachings (68%) and religious requirements (59%) were the reasons behind child marriage.

Sharifah, who is a senior lecturer with Kolej University Poly-Tech Mara, also stated that some 67% of the respondents agreed that an increase in premarital sex was the reason behind child marriage.

The debate on child marriage, Sharifah said, is heated not just in Malaysia, but also in the US.

“According to Social Mention, an application used to track topics being discussed on social media, the topic of child marriage is being discussed every two minutes,” she said.

According to statistics provided at the forum today, there have been a total of 10,240 marriages involving underaged Muslim girls between 2005 and 2015 in Malaysia.

When it comes to a breakdown by state, Kelantan and Sabah top the list with almost 10% of all the child marriages that have taken place. Kelantan recorded 5.4% while Sabah 4.34% of the 10,240 cases. - Mkini

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