Jannie and Radoslaw showing the work of youths against child marriages.
KOTA KINABALU: The Law and Native Affairs Ministry is working to amend laws to end child marriage in Sabah.
According to Assistant Minister Jannie Lasimbang, the ministry hopes to achieve this by setting the minimum age for marriage through legal reforms at 18.
She said her ministry had already begun the development of a state action plan with stakeholders in a three-day workshop which was held on July 1-3.
The workshop was jointly organized by her ministry and United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
Those among attending the workshop were Assistant Education and Innovation Minister Jenifer Lasimbang, Assistant Health and People’s Well-Being Minister Norazlinah Arif, Native Court and Syariah Court judges, representatives from the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, government, judiciary and civil society organisations, State Attorney General of Sabah, Suhakam, Sabah Law Society, child rights and community-based NGOs and the Girl Guides Association of Malaysia.
Jannie said a task force which would look into the implementation of the new requirement had been set up.
She said the task force would also be responsible for drafting the law which would be presented to the cabinet next month.
She said child marriages that took place prior to the implementation of the new ruling would not be affected once the new ruling comes into effect.
She said the new ruling which would be added to the Native Customary Law would only apply to Malaysians, not foreigners.
At present, she said no minimum age for marriage had been set under the Native Customary Law.
“We have even cases of 12 years old being married off,” she said.
Among the reasons given for child marriages in Sabah are the occurrence of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and poverty.
“Some family thinks that marrying off their children at an early age is a way out from poverty.
“But instead, it makes matters worse and result in problems like undocumented children since parents cannot register their children’s birth (with the National Registration Department) if they are below 18 years old,” she said.
Jannie said there are many cases such as that in Sabah, particularly in rural areas.
Child marriages also occur due to the failure of the Native Court to provide guidance to the family of those afflicted, she said.
She said many child marriages end up in divorce, which further perpetuates the challenges of living in poverty and so on.
Nevertheless, Jannie noted that the legal reform is just a step towards ending child marriages in Sabah.
“We need to follow up with the community to change their mindset and attitude towards child marriages. This will be more challenging,” she said.
Also present at the press conference yesterday was Radoslaw Rzehak, the Deputy Representative from United Nations Children’s Fund in Malaysia.