KARACHI: The trend of forces marriages is rising in Pakistan, which should be a wakeup call for the government and civil society, especially women rights group.

Forced marriage is primarily an issue of violence against women. Most cases involve young women and girls aged between 13 and 30 years. In some cases boys are also forced to marry as per choice of their parents.

In Pakistan traditionally most marriages are arranged by families. Here marriages at a young age are often solemnized, ignoring the law of the land, which requires a minimum age of consent to be 16 for girls and 18 for boys. There are even instances of marriages being arranged even before the children are born, agreements that are followed through a few years later whether the children involved agree or not.

Another way of forced marriages in Pakistan is called Vani in which hand of a girl is given in marriage to settle a dispute or compensate a crime at tribal/ community level. Compensation marriage, known variously as swara and sang chatti, is the traditional practice of forced marriage of women and girl children in order to resolve tribal feuds in parts of Pakistan.

According to the data gathered by Madadgaar, Pakistan’s first helpline for women and children being run jointly by Lawyers of Human Rights and Legal Aid and UNICEF, 629 cases of forced marriages of women and 1018 cases of Vani were reported by mainstream Print media in Pakistan during last decade (2000-2009), during the same period 9754 cases of forced marriages of children and 855 Vani cases of children were also reported.

Madadgaar data shows 75,039 cases of violence against women were reported the media from the year 2000 to 2009. These cases include 13972 murders and 452 murders after rape of women, while as many as 17,107 women were subjected to torture during this period.

The issue of forced marriages should be seriously tackled by the government and society.
For this it is necessary to understand the basic difference between arranged and forced marriages. In arranged marriages the families of both spouses take a leading role in arranging the marriage but the choice whether to accept the arrangement remains with the individuals.

In forced marriage at least one party does not consent to the marriage and some element of duress is involved.

Parents who force their children to marry often justify their behaviour as protecting their children, building stronger families and preserving cultural or religious traditions. They do not see anything wrong in their actions. However, forced marriage should be recognised as an abuse which typically involves criminal offences.

Some of the key motives that have been identified are controlling unwanted behaviour – particularly the behaviour of women, peer group or family pressure, attempting to strengthen family/ tribal links, ensuring land remains within the family, protecting perceived cultural ideals which can often be misguided or out of date, preventing “unsuitable” relationships, e.g. outside the ethnic, cultural, or caste group, family honour, and long-standing family commitments.

Young people forced into marriage often become estranged from their families. Sometimes they themselves become trapped in the cycle of abuse with serious long-term consequences. Many women forced into a marriage suffer for many years from domestic abuse. They feel unable to leave because of the lack of family support, economic pressures and other social circumstances. They may live within a forced marriage for many years before they feel able to challenge the situation.

Isolation is one of the biggest problems facing victims of forced marriage. They may feel they have no one to speak to about their situation. These feelings of isolation are very similar to those experienced by victims of domestic abuse.

In much of Pakistan, marriage clearly is imposed on women against their will. Those brave enough to complain to the courts or run from their homes are hunted down by their families and forced to return or, all too frequently, murdered to restore a distorted sense of honour. The police usually turn a blind eye.

Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid President Zia Ahmed Awan said the forced marriage is a form of human rights abuse, since it violates the principle of the freedom and autonomy of individuals. It is need of hour to take solid steps by the government, police, judiciary, media, civil society organizations and all other stakeholders of society to end the dark practice of forced marriages in Pakistan, so as the human rights situation could be further improved in the country and a soft image of Pakistan developed at global level.
Source: The Nation
Date:5/14/2010