A critical issue that continues to plague our society—how parents force girls to get married in Pakistan. Despite advancements in education, legal reforms, and awareness campaigns, forced marriages remain a harsh reality for many young girls across the country. It is essential to shed light on this practice, the reasons behind it, and its devastating impact on the lives of countless girls.

Cultural and Social Pressures

In many communities, marriage is seen as the ultimate marker of a girl’s worth. Parents often feel bound by cultural traditions and societal expectations, which place immense pressure on them to marry their daughters at an early age. They fear societal judgment if their daughters remain unmarried beyond a certain age, which is perceived as a failure of the family’s honor.

Arranged marriages, a longstanding cultural practice, often cross the line into coercion. While some arranged marriages involve mutual consent, many do not. Girls are rarely given the freedom to express their desires or reject a match chosen for them. For many families, a daughter's objection is considered rebellion, and her silence is taken as consent.

Economic Burden and Financial Pressures

In economically disadvantaged households, daughters are often viewed as a financial liability. The harsh reality is that poverty forces families to see marriage as a way to reduce their financial burden. When a daughter is married off, her daily expenses, education, and other needs become someone else’s responsibility.

In some cases, families receive a haq mehr—a sum of money from the groom or his family—that further incentivizes early or forced marriages. In others, practices like dowry and expensive wedding traditions push parents to marry their daughters into families that can relieve them of these financial pressures.

Misinterpretation of Religious Beliefs

Religion is often misused to justify forced marriages. While Islam emphasizes the importance of mutual consent in marriage, this principle is frequently ignored. Parents may manipulate religious teachings to convince their daughters that it is their duty to marry whomever their parents choose. This misuse of religion not only undermines the faith’s true values but also perpetuates injustice against girls.

Emotional Manipulation and Social Control

Beyond financial and cultural pressures, parents often resort to emotional manipulation to force their daughters into marriage. They may guilt their daughters by emphasizing the sacrifices made to raise them or the potential shame their resistance could bring to the family.

Girls who refuse a marriage proposal are sometimes subjected to threats, isolation, or even physical abuse. They may be confined to their homes, cut off from education or social connections, and left with no choice but to comply. This psychological and emotional control strips them of their agency and leaves them feeling trapped.

Harmful Tribal Practices

In rural and tribal areas, the situation is even worse. Practices like vani and swara involve giving young girls in marriage to settle disputes or blood feuds. Similarly, watta satta, or exchange marriages, force girls into unions to maintain family alliances or avoid dowries. These customs treat girls as commodities, denying them their basic human rights.

The Fear of Love Marriages

In conservative families, love marriages are often stigmatized. To prevent girls from choosing their own partners, parents may arrange hasty marriages to suitors of their choice. For them, a love marriage is not just an act of defiance but a threat to the family’s reputation.

The Way Forward

Ladies and gentlemen, forced marriages are not just a violation of basic human rights—they rob girls of their childhood, their education, and their future. While Pakistan has laws to protect against forced and child marriages, enforcement remains weak, especially in rural areas.

To combat this issue, we need collective action. Legal reforms must be strengthened, awareness campaigns must be amplified, and communities must be educated about the rights of girls. Schools, religious leaders, and social organizations must work together to challenge harmful traditions and provide support to victims.

Most importantly, we must foster a culture where girls are empowered to make their own choices, free from coercion. Every girl deserves the right to dream, to learn, and to live her life on her own terms.

Let us unite to ensure that no girl is forced into a marriage she does not want. Together, we can build a future where every child, regardless of gender, is free to live a life of dignity, autonomy, and hope.

Thank you.

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