Rina Harun Says Govt Has No Plans To Ban Child Marriages
The Women, Family, and Community Development Minister, however, assured that the federal government remains committed to preventing such unions from happening.
By Sadho Ram — 23 Mar 2022, 04:25 PM
The federal government has no plans to ban child marriages but remains committed to preventing such unions from happening, assured the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development
Its Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun, while responding to a question from Permatang Pauh member of parliament (MP) Nurul Izzah Anwar earlier this week, said that Putrajaya will do so by implementing programmes under the National Strategic Plan for Addressing the Causes of Underage Marriage.
The Bersatu politician was referring to a national plan to end child marriage that was launched by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration in January 2020. The plan — encompassing seven objectives, 17 strategies, and 58 programmes to address the causes — was to be carried out in the next five years.
However, with the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020, the plan has been dormant.
In her written reply, the Titiwangsa MP reasoned that there was a need to manage the issue through education, advocacy, strengthening the family institution, and socio-economic support in the community
Child marriage must not only be tackled through legislative change, Rina reportedly said.
"At the same time, a steering committee that has been established will continue to monitor [the] implementation and development of the designed programme," read the reply to Nurul Izzah.
The PKR leader had asked about the current status of the plan to ban child marriages to prevent child exploitation and if Rina's ministry will hold discussions with the various state Islamic religious authorities since setting the minimum age for Muslim marriages falls under the purview of the respective states.
The ministry's reply added that the government agrees with Nurul Izzah's suggestion to have a discussion with the state councils and that meetings will be set up with the help of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) and the Department of Shariah Judiciary Malaysia (JKSM).
However, in December last year, Religious Affairs Minister Datuk Idris Ahmad had already stated that JAKIM will not raise the legal marrying age for Muslims to 18 because it saw no "necessity" to do so.
The PAS-aligned Senator, while responding to Batu Kawan MP Kasthuriraani Patto, had said that the decision was reached in September last year after most states basically agreed to maintain the existing age limit.
So far, the only state that has officially amended its law to make 18 the minimum age for marriage is Selangor. It was done in 2018.
Other states that have agreed to amend their respective laws include Penang, Sabah, Johor, Melaka, Perak, and the Federal Territories — Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya.
As such, the states that have refused to cooperate or express a desire to increase the minimum marriage age are Sarawak, Pahang, Perlis, Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, and Kelantan.
