Child marriage restraint bill is legislation that prohibited early-age marriage of children. Pakistan’s National Assembly approved the child marriage bill on Friday, 27 May, 2025. The initiative aims to control early-age marriages and safeguard teen girls from becoming mothers at an early age.
MNA Sharmila Faruqi presented the bill and stated that if the President signed the bill into law, a new society would be created where women live freely and all colonial-era rules would end.
According to the child marriage restraint bill, passed by the NA, the right age of marriage is now set at 18 for both men and women across the country. Previously, women at 16 and men at 18 were allowed to get married. Moreover, if someone arranged a child marriage, he will experience up to seven years in jail. It includes family members, registrars and clerics. Child marriage with any sexual relationship, regardless of consent, will be considered statutory rape. Up to three years in prison is mandated for older men who marry a young girl.
However, the CII (Council of Islamic Ideology), which gives advice to the government and parliament on religious matters, criticized the bill and called it “un-islamic.” CII refused to accept the bill, citing the clauses that particularly describe marriage under the age of 18 as child abuse and declare punishments. “such legislations does no found in Islam,” CII added.
Child Marriage is one of the significant problems of Pakistan. Based on the analysis from a 2018 demographic survey, 29% of girls in Pakistan married at the age of 18 and 4% of girls married before they turned 15. On the contrary, only 5% of boys get married before they turn 18. An international organization, Girls Not Brides, ranks Pakistan among 10 countries with the highest number of women married at an early age.
Early-age marriages also generate serious issues for girls. For example, those who marry as minors may drop out of school, experience domestic violence and even have major health issues. Moreover, early pregnancies impose higher risks of fistulas and sexually transmitted infections in the body and even lead to maternal death. Teenage mothers face greater risks of dying during childbirth compared to women in their 20s.
