A Qualitative Study of Early Child Marriages in Umerkot, Sindh

Abstract

Child marriage has been a major social and human rights issue in Pakistan, especially in the rural areas where economic poverty, traditions, as well as gender inequality have perpetuated the vice. This paper has discussed the causes of early child marriage and its implications in Umerkot District, Sindh. The qualitative research design was applied to gain deep insight into the experiences and opinions of the participants. The semi-structured interviews were carried out with 27 key informants who included child marriage victims, family members, non-governmental organisation (NGO) representatives, and police officials. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interview data and identified three key themes. The findings showed that poverty, financial insecurity, and limited livelihood opportunities might frequently drive a family to consider child marriage as an option. The entrenched traditional values, such as Watta-Satta and Pait-Likkhi, along with the issue of family honour and societal pressures, further supported the practice of early marriage irrespective of the legal provisions. The research also concluded that there is a strong educational, health, psychological and social consequence of child marriage particularly to girls; school dropout, early pregnancy, emotional disturbance and lack of independence and economic dependence in later life. These findings show that fighting child marriage is not a legal challenge, but requires multifaceted interventions that include reducing poverty, educating, raising community-level awareness, and enhancing the institutional performance. The paper provides qualitative data of the rural setting in Sindh and provides context-based perspectives to policy and community-based interventions to end child marriage in Pakistan.