Authorities in Afghanistan has decided to turn down child and forced marriages in the Province. Hence, ‘Nikah Nama’, a formal marriage contract has been proposed as an antidote to the prevalent custom. This has been welcomed by the women’s rights NGOs across the country.
Nibila Wafiq, a women’s rights program officer said,
The new marriage contract is a strong legal instrument that will end child marriages and will empower women’s legal status after marriage.
Although legal age for marriage is 16 and 18 for girls and boys respectively, yet the girls are betrothed at a very younger age. Nearly, 57 percent of marriages in Afghanistan involve girls below sixteen years of age.
The new marriage document stipulates that if a man wants to marry, he should make sure that his would-be wife is at least 16. Marriage certificates will not be issued for underage brides.
Human rights activists took the document as a step towards women emancipation. However, officials note that only one to three couples apply for formal marriage registration per day in a country of about 25 million people. This would suggest that the vast majority of Afghans are not officially registering their marriages.
Thus, in order to combat this problem, the Ministry of Women’s Affair has initiated a campaign to encourage the number of legally registered couples.
Now, time will tell how far this contract would liberate women in the Province.
