Conflicting child marriage laws leave South Asian girls exposed, Equality Now warns

By AI, Created 9:45 PM UTC, May 19, 2026, /AGP/ – Equality Now says contradictory civil, religious and customary laws are undermining child-marriage bans across South Asia, leaving millions of girls at risk and making it harder for survivors to get justice. The report argues that ending child marriage requires consistent minimum-age laws, stronger enforcement and better registration systems.

Why it matters: - Equality Now says legal loopholes across South Asia are keeping child marriage legal or hard to prosecute in practice. - The report warns that girls from religious minorities face the highest risk because conflicting laws can override civil protections. - Weak enforcement also makes it harder for survivors to leave marriages, access annulment or divorce, and obtain justice.

What happened: - Equality Now released Exploring the Interlinkages Between Child Marriage and Family Laws in South Asia on May 20, 2026. - The analysis covers eight South Asian countries and examines how civil, customary and religious laws interact. - Divya Srinivasan of Equality Now said equal protection under the law is essential to ending child marriage and called for 18 to be the minimum marriage age without exception.

The details: - UNICEF data cited in the report says one in four young women in South Asia is married or in a union before age 18. - The report says the vast majority live in poverty and three-quarters give birth while adolescents. - Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka operate parallel legal systems that combine civil law with religious, customary or family laws. - In Bangladesh, civil law sets marriage at 18 for girls and 21 for men, but courts can approve child marriage in “special cases” with no clear minimum age. - Hindu and Parsi laws in Bangladesh have no minimum age. - Muslim law in Bangladesh allows marriage at puberty, typically interpreted as age 15. - Christian law in Bangladesh permits girls to marry at 13 and boys at 16. - The report says allowing girls to marry younger than boys entrenches sex discrimination. - The report also flags unequal treatment of women and girls in family courts and weak rules for annulling child marriages. - In India, some courts have questioned whether general child-marriage laws apply to Muslim marriages. - In Pakistan, minority girls are abducted, forcibly converted and married, according to the report. - Once converted to Islam, cases typically shift to Islamic law, which permits marriage from puberty. - The report says that dynamic can shield perpetrators from prosecution for forced conversion, underage marriage and statutory rape. - Sri Lanka has reduced child marriage through legislation and enforcement, but gaps remain for Muslim girls under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act 1951. - That law does not set a minimum marriage age and does not require Muslim marriage registration. - Sri Lanka’s Penal Code allows sexual intercourse within marriage from age 12, while classifying sex under 16 as statutory rape. - India and Afghanistan do not criminalize marital rape, according to the report. - In Afghanistan, marriage can be contracted at any age, and there is no civil law. - The report says consent in Afghanistan is determined by the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia Law. - In Pakistan, courts regularly allow child marriages under personal law by applying the puberty standard, even where provincial law sets 18 as the minimum age. - In Bhutan, the legal marriage age is 18, but the report says girls face risk from bomena, a practice involving nighttime courtship or sexual relations. - Bhutan’s Penal Code could treat acts tied to bomena as rape, but the Marriage Act, 1980, can validate a union arising from bomena if both parties accept. - Across South Asia, child marriage is often hidden by falsifying brides’ ages or by unregistered customary unions. - The report says underreporting is fueled by stigma, fear of legal consequences and private family settlements, especially after rape or pregnancy. - The Maldives has an official child marriage rate of about 2%, but the report says unregistered marriages are rising. - Some hardline religious groups in the Maldives are issuing fatwas discouraging official registration, the report says. - Nepal’s legal marriage age is 20, but underage Muslim wedding ceremonies are sometimes unregistered and carried out under religious custom. - Enakshi Ganguly, a report co-author, said legal reform must be paired with stronger child protection systems so survivors can access annulment, divorce and support services. - Ganguly also said birth and marriage registration laws must be enforced and girls need access to school, sexuality education, life skills training and employment opportunities.

Between the lines: - The report frames child marriage as more than a single-law problem. It is a systems problem shaped by family law, criminal law, registration rules and social pressure. - Where legal systems allow exceptions, religious carve-outs or informal unions, abusive practices can become harder to detect and punish. - The report suggests that legal reform alone will not end child marriage if schools, health systems and registration systems remain weak.

What’s next: - Equality Now is pushing South Asian governments to set 18 as the minimum marriage age across all legal systems and communities. - The report calls for stronger birth and marriage registration, clearer annulment rules and better implementation. - The group says governments also need to make later marriage realistic by keeping girls in school and expanding education and job opportunities.

The bottom line: - In South Asia, child-marriage bans are often only as strong as the exceptions that follow them. Equality Now says closing those loopholes is now the urgent test.