LETTER | I refer to the Malaysiakini report Parents of 11-year-old child bride give their blessings to union.

The child marriage that has occurred between this young 11-year-old girl and a 41-year-old man is totally unacceptable. First and foremost, this is a different day and time. Rather than moving forwards, it appears like we are going further backwards.

Back then, girls were married off at a very young age due to reasons of financial difficulties within the home with parents struggling to find a way to raise large families. Now, societal norms have grown in a way where young girls are taught to be empowered, independent and strong.

Taking into consideration the age of this young girl, she is not at the age where she is matured enough to make rational decisions. Regardless of whether it is the right decision, she is most certainly not old enough to be deciding if the marriage is right for her, and to give her consent to it.

Having an 11-year-old to be married off at a young age will also cause detriment towards her personal growth and deprive her further of her childhood. The childhood phase of a person is important as those are the nurturing years that cultivate and instil important values that shape a person.

Her growth throughout the years which also most importantly includes her education could also possibly be jeopardised. A child her age should be focusing on school and be enhancing her inter-personal skills, instead of being married off and starting a family.

To make matters worse, she’s too young of an age to be sexually exposed. She is a child herself and in the circumstances where she gets pregnant and becomes a mother herself, would she be able to care for her child? The responsibility that comes when having a child is a huge one for anyone to handle, even for a full grown adult. What more a young 11 year old?

There have been cases of high-risk pregnancies amongst young mothers, who all face the danger of injury and even death due to conceiving a child at a young age. This young girl would only be exposed to the pressures of bearing a child and she is not in even in the right age to negotiate in safe, consensual sex.

The way I see this, this is nothing more than a case of exploiting a young girl who has her whole future ahead of her. There have been cases of child marriages where parties take advantage of the child and push them towards child prostitution, child labour, some even exerting physical violence on the child with cases of domestic violence being rampant amongst child marriages.

These are all acts which are not only despicable but it dismantles the child. If this girl were ever to be in a situation where she has to pursue any legal action, she would only be able to get access to limited rights that would be available to her. A child should be a child for a reason, and she should not be pushed into a marriage which would only strip her away further from her fundamental rights.

There needs to be more action taken to make certain amendments in order to prevent child marriages from occurring. More emphasis on amending Islamic law to increase the age limit of the child to be married, to narrow the factors of consideration by the syariah courts when deciding consent for this matter, to increase education in grassroots level in rural areas especially and as well as to encourage more efforts to engage the public in the awareness of the dangers of child marriages are some crucial steps that need to be taken into consideration in order to tackle this issue.

The practice of child marriage is a clear abuse of human right and the fact that most countries have the minimum legal age for marriage to be at 18, is a point that the syariah courts in Malaysia have to analyse. Culture, religion or economical situation should not be a restricting factor, as young girls and boys should be allowed to be children.

They are most certainly not physically, mentally or emotionally ready to dwell on the dynamics and responsibilities of a marriage. Whether or not the consent of the child is obtained is irrelevant as the parent of the child need to understand that a child’s place does not belong at home raising a family, but instead to grow to their utmost potential.

The reaction of the Malaysian community towards this issue is a crucial one as endorsing this sort of marriage would not only prove to be controversial but could lead to opening the floodgates. There lies a further underlying caution with the way this issue is handled, as supporting this sort of an act would be a step backwards in the progression of Malaysia.

With the new government in, there is a lot of expectations for more efforts to further emancipate women especially with the election of the new Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah who has also been elected as the Minister of Women and Family Development.

The stand and action that Malaysia takes with this case could prove to be monumental in the development of the “new Malaysia”.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.