ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly’s resolution passed unanimously on Tuesday seeking ban on marriages of under-18 year old boys and girls will not only help end violence against children it will also reduce burden on health infrastructure of the province caused due to complications of child marriages.

Child rights advocates and members of civil society on Thursday termed the provincial assembly’s unanimously passed resolution a landmark step in the province contributing to safeguard rights of the children.

The resolution was moved by Maliha Asghar, chairperson of the Women Parliamentary Caucus, and jointly signed by women parliamentarians of various political parties including Nighat Yasmeen Orakzai, Ayesha Bano, Sumaira Shams, Maliha Asghar Khan, Ayesha Naeem, and Shagufta Malik stated, “This house acknowledges its obligations to support and enact domestic legislation in the light of Pakistan’s international and regional human rights-based obligations. It also condemns all laws and acts of injustice, discrimination, and violence against girls that result from child marriages.”

CEO of Lahore-based ‘Search for Justice’ and ‘Children Advocacy Network’ (CAN) Iftikhar Mubarak while talking to Gulf News here praising the women legislators for introducing the resolution said his organisation along with other rights groups and NGOs had been continuously demanding to raise age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18 years through amendment in “The Child Marriage Restraint Act (s) in different provinces, except Sindh.

In Sindh a law already exists since 2014 declaring the minimum age of 18 years for marriage and its violation is a punishable offence.

According to Mr Mubarak in Punjab to the provincial assembly’s women parliamentarians have submitted resolution and an amendment in “The Punjab Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act 2015, and “hopefully, very soon we shall see a similar unanimous passage of the resolution,” said he.

To a question, he said the strict legislation to deal with the issue of Child Marriages will surely contribute to ending Violence against girls, since Child Marriage is a worst form of Gender Based Violence.

Meanwhile, in an interactive dialogue, organised by CAN Pakistan with support of Australian High Commission a group of girls urged to expedite the process for legislative improvements in Punjab.

Coordinator for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network, Taimur Kamal is of the view that child marriage is a fundamental human right violation that constitutes a grave threat to young girls’ lives, health and future prospects.

He said the right to “free and full” consent to a marriage is universally accepted in and recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights- with the recognition that consent cannot be ‘free and full’ when one of the parties involved is not sufficiently mature to make an informed decision about a life partner.