Child Marriages In Pakistan: Why Is The Nation Seeing A Rise In 'Monsoon Brides'?

Can climate change increase the patriarchal subjugation of women? Cases from Pakistan show that. Due to the threat of floods in the forthcoming monsoon season, many families are marrying their daughters off in exchange for money. The money is to save themselves from poverty when the flood hits the village. 

In one of the many cases, 14-year-old Shamila and 13-year-old Amina are sisters who got married to men twice their age. Their parents married them off in return for money. Shamila's in-laws gave 200,000 Pakistan Rupees to her parents living in a village where people survive with an amount equal to one dollar.

Shamila told the media, "I was happy to hear I was getting married... I thought my life would become easier." And now she says, "But I have nothing more. And with the rain, I fear I will have even less if that is possible."

Child marriage spiked in monsoon in Pakistan

This is just one of the many cases of child marriage in Pakistan during monsoon. Brides feel happy in the beginning with the hope of a prosperous life filled with happiness, lipsticks, crockeries et all. Some even demand to study after marriage like many other child brides. But in the end, poverty engulfs them and they come back to their parents with their husband and children because they cannot fend for themselves.  

In 2022, one-third of Pakistan was drowned in water. The flood led to the displacement of millions and the destruction of harvests. The flood left many lands barren and poisonous because of which many families in the villages were impoverished. 

Until 2022, the rate of child brides in Pakistan was decreasing. However, after the unprecedented 2022 flood, rights workers warned that child marriage has increased. The reason behind this is climate change which is increasing poverty among villagers.

Monsoon Brides 

Calling the trend 'Monsoon Brides',  Mashooque Birhmani, the founder of the NGO Sujag Sansar, told the media, "Families will find any means of survival. The first and most obvious way is to give their daughters away in marriage in exchange for money." He further said that the Dadu district which was worst hit by the 2022 flood has seen a major spike in child marriages. 

The NGO works to reduce child marriage working with religious scholars. 

In Khan Mohammad Mallah village, 45 girls have been married since the 2022 monsoon with 15 of them married in May and June of this year. 65-year-old village elder Mai Hajani told the media, "Before the 2022 rains, there was no such need to get girls married so young in our area."

He further added, "They would work on the land, make rope for wooden beds, and the men would be busy with fishing and agriculture. There was always work to be done".

Parents say that the marriage of their daughters saves them from the poverty caused by climate change. 

Menace of child marriage in Pakistan

According to government data published in December, Pakistan stands in the sixth position for getting girls younger than 18 married. The minimum age of marriage is somewhere between 16 and 18 but the law is not imposed as much. UNICEF has put in significant efforts to reduce child marriage. But the unprecedented climate change and poverty hinder it all.  

During the 2022 flood, UNICEF said, "We would expect to see an 18 per cent increase in the prevalence of child marriage, equivalent to erasing five years of progress."