Child Marriages In Malaysia

However the actual number could be higher as many couples do not register their marriages.

Child marriages in malaysia. Unicef senior child protection specialist sarah norton staal said she felt encouraged by the prime minister s statement on raising the legal minimum age for marriage to 18. Unicef s stand on child marriage is clear legal minimum age of marriage is at 18 without exception. Selangor made history on wednesday fifth september. Those aged below 16 can marry with the consent of the syariah court.

According to the 2010 orang asli census there were 196 married orang asli children out of 63 883 married couples in that community in that year. Child marriage is rarely seen as a human rights violation in malaysia. Child marriage is rooted in gender inequality and the belief that girls and women are somehow inferior to boys and men. As for muslims the department of syariah judiciary malaysia recorded 6 584 cases of marriage among muslim children from 2011 to october 2016.

Nst according to the new straits times it was reported that 968 marriages involving non muslim children and adults along with 147 marriages between underage children were registered across malaysia in 2017 alone. Child brides are not unheard of in malaysia. According to a united nations un report from 2010 over 80 000 married women in malaysia were girls between the ages of 15 and 19. Department of shariah judiciary malaysia jksm.

In malaysia the legal minimum marriage age is 18 but it is 16 for muslim girls. Malaysia along with over 90 other countries adopted a united nations resolution to end child early or forced marriages at the human rights council last week. The little recognition that it gets as a problem means that it is difficult to reach out to survivors. Now shocking statistics have revealed just how prevalent child marriages are among both the muslim and non muslim communities in malaysia.

The legal age to marry also depends on whether you are muslim or non muslim. Kuala lumpur april 14 for better or worse tasek gelugor mp datuk shabudin yahaya s recent remarks in parliament has cast a spotlight on child marriages in malaysia. However a positive development in the central state of selangor has given hope to the many malaysians that object to the idea of child marriages. Children are actually allowed to marry under existing malaysian laws.

In 2014 the national fatwa council published a fatwa declaring that child marriage is not wajib obligatory or sunnah encouraged and that it is not a healthy practice. Child marriages are highest in the state of sabah with over 200 reported incidents of underaged marriage among muslims and 10 cases involving non muslims.