Pakistan has raised legal marriage age of both girls and boys to 18 years, in a move that the Christian minorities in the country have welcomed warmly.

According to Christian Daily International (CDI), the bill ‘Christian Marriage (Amendment) Act, 2024’ has been passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and only requires now the final signature of the President of the country, Asif Ali Zardari.

The law was presented by Naveed Amir Jeeva, a Christian parliamentary. Last year, a Christian senator already had pointed to the need to reform the law on Christian Marriages of 1872, under which girls were allowed to marry at the age of 13, and boys at 16.

Forced conversions and marriages

The country is experiencing regular cases of girls coming from Christian communities forced to marry Muslims against their will. The most recent case happened only weeks ago, when a 14-year-old girl of a Catholic family was abducted for a sham conversion to Islam and a forced marriage.

The law was presented speaking of the “state’s responsibility to protect children from exploitation and uphold their constitutional rights”.

Islamic clergy and Islamist groups opposed the bill.

Consensus of mainline churches

Parliamentarian Jeeva told CDI that “the amendment was submitted after the consensus of all the mainline churches of Pakistan which is why it sailed through the vote smoothly”.

The leader of the Anglican Church of Pakistan, Bishop Azad Marshall, said “the church fully supports the amendment (…) It will help in preventing forced marriages of underage Christian girls as well as in ensuring that their health, education, and overall well-being does not suffer”.

Roman Catholic Bishop Samson Shukardin also expressed its “sincere appreciation to the entire parliament for passing this bill unanimously”, adding the “hope” that “the government will take further steps to criminalise forced religious conversions”.