Peer-reviewed article
CHILD MARRIAGE: CHANGING TRENDS IN PAKISTAN
Dr. Shagufta Nasreen, Aliyah Ali, Dr. Syed Karim Bux Shah ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined the experiences of 100 women in Karachi, Pakistan who were married between ages 12 and 17. The research found that early marriage was primarily driven by traditional practices, affecting mostly low-income and illiterate families. Although these women were married young, they aspired to delay marriage for their own daughters until after age 18. The study concludes that despite efforts to discourage child marriage, more work is needed from government and organizations to create cultural change among parents and communities.
Key points
- Majority of early marriages in the study population were due to traditional practices
- Most girls who experienced early marriage came from low-income families and were illiterate
- Women married at young ages expressed intention to marry their daughters after age 18
- Multiple factors affecting marriage patterns include globalization, urbanization, migration, and women's labour participation
- Government and civil society organizations need to create enabling environments and target community members, not just parents
Limitations
The study used convenience and snowball sampling in only one city (Karachi), which limits generalizability to other regions of Pakistan or other contexts. The research does not measure actual outcomes for daughters or test any intervention, so it cannot tell us whether parents' stated intentions translate to changed behaviour.
Abstract
Child marriage is a problem which exists and continues in many parts of the world although commitments have been made to discourage it. Earlier research work shows that the incidence of child marriages varies globally. Many factors affect the choice of marriage and age pattern such as globalization, modernization, urbanization; in country migration, social transformation, gender relations; changes in the family joint to nuclear patterns; amendments in laws regarding the institution of marriage and divorce process; and increased involvement and contribution of women in paid labor. This research aims to explore experiences of women who were married at a nearly age. The universe of this research was Karachi city. The researchers used convenience sampling method and purposive and snowball sampling technique to interview100 female respondents married at the early age of 12-17years. The study shows that majority of child marriages/early marriages are due to traditional practices. Most of them belong to low-income families and were illiterate. Although these women got married in early age, they intend to marry their daughters after 18 years of age. Findings conclude that however there are significant steps taken to demotivate child marriage worldwide, the Government of Pakistan and other organizations working toward women wellbeing, need to create an enabling environment and de-motivate not only the parents, but the community members against child marriages.