Why Pakistan can't stop child marriages

DW (English)

It's illegal to marry before the age of 16 in Pakistan, yet the country is home to almost 19 million child brides. So why can't the south Asian country stop the harmful practice?

Transcript

00:00Ikra was just 13 when she was married off to her cousin.

00:18Now 17, she's already a mother of four.

00:22Instead of going to school, she spends her days cooking, cleaning and caring for her children.

00:27According to the UN, one in six young girls in Pakistan are married in childhood.

00:33The country is now home to nearly 19 million child brides.

00:37Ikra is now expecting another child.

00:59She's doing so while living in a makeshift slum with no sewage, clean water or access to basic health care.

01:06She was never educated about childbirth risks.

01:09Over 1.9 million children are born in Pakistan each year to adolescent girls age 15 to 19.

01:15These births have higher rates of maternal and infant complications.

01:19Child brides are twice as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth compared to women in their 20s.

01:24Driven by poverty, tradition and climate shocks, girls like Ikra are promised into marriage, sometimes with cousins, before they are even born.

01:33My mother was 13, 14 years old.

01:36My mother was 15, 16, 17 years old.

01:39So we didn't understand how much marriage is.

01:42We didn't keep the marriage in the house.

01:46It's sad that we don't keep the marriage in the house.

01:48If it's sad, we can give the money to the girl and take the marriage in the house.

01:51We say that many people take the money to the marriage in the house.

01:53Pakistan's legal marriage age is 16, but the law is poorly enforced, with 12% of girls married before they turn 15 years old.

02:02In many communities, financial and cultural pressures play a key role in continuing child marriage.

02:09Parents, often living in poverty, view early marriage as a way of relieving financial burdens through securing a dowry.

02:15Boys in Pakistan can also be affected by child marriage.

02:32Raja was married as a teenager with no education or job skills.

02:36He is trapped in a cycle of poverty and now collects scrap to survive.

02:40He is barely able to feed his children or support his pregnant wife.

02:44Child marriages can also lead to malnourished households, as the parents are often uneducated and locked in a cycle of poverty.

02:57Children born in these unions often face higher risk of exploitation, including child labour.

03:03We don't understand how much time we have to deal with.

03:09We think that we are our children and parents.

03:12Who is our children?

03:13We can't eat good food for women, sir.

03:16We can't eat good food for women.

03:18We can't eat good food for children.

03:19This is my life, sir.

03:20It's my life.

03:21I see my children, where are we, where are we, where are we, where are we.

03:24I don't have a house, no other house.

03:27It's my family.

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