I don’t condone child marriage, laws to be amended, says Wan Azizah

(The Star) – Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah (pic) has clarified that she is against child marriage and does not condone it after being accused of saying that the minor in the latest case in Kelantan gave her consent.

She said, as Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, she was working on raising the minimum age of marriage to 18.

“The best interest of the child must always be considered,” she said in a statement on Friday (Sep 21).

Wan Azizah issued the statement after she was blasted for saying that the 15-year-old girl in Tumpat, Kelantan case had given her consent in marrying a 44-year-old man and that both of them “mutually liked” one another.

She clarified that what she said on the matter was just a “descriptive statement” of what the child said to her officers.

The girl’s family also said she was married off to escape poverty.

“Marriage should not be used as a way out of poverty,” she said.

According to Wan Azizah, she chaired a meeting on Sep 13 with all the relevant stakeholders as part of the process to raise the age of marriage.

A paper would be prepared by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and her ministry to raise the marriage age for Muslims, she added.

This paper would be presented to the Meeting of Menteris Besar and Chief Ministers to garner support from the states to raise the legal minimum marriageable age.

She added that a cabinet paper was also being prepared to raise the minimum age for non-Muslims.

As for customary marriages, she said the leaders of communities involved would be informed of the dangers of marriage to the health and safety of a child.

Wan Azizah, however, said amending the law would take time, and in the meantime they would be meeting the Jabatan Kehakiman Syariah Malaysia (JKSM) on using stricter and more thorough guidelines for Syariah Court judges in approving child marriages.

She said she had also spoken to Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa and Datuk Liew Vui Keong, to look into the loopholes and inconsistencies between Syariah and civil laws in relation to child marriage.

She added that she had instructed her officers to examine current laws to ensure that the welfare of children were taken care of.

“Amending laws is only part of the solution. A holistic approach must include education, welfare nets, poverty education and support systems.

“The protection and rights of children is of paramount interest to me, and I will not compromise on the matter,” she said.