Why the New Law in ICT Matters

In May 2025, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) passed the Child Marriage Restraint Act, raising the legal age of marriage for girls to 18. This marks a major legal victory after years of organizing by activists, researchers, and civil society groups. But this win did not come overnight—it is the outcome of decades of feminist resistance, legal advocacy, and research-backed policy efforts.

At IDEAS, our research has helped illuminate the economic and social costs of child marriage, the political and judicial battlegrounds over legal reform, and the lived experiences of movement actors pushing for change.

Why There Should Be a Minimum Age: The Costing Study

In 2020, IDEAS conducted a costing study in collaboration with UN Women and the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) to quantify the impact of child marriage in Pakistan.

Key findings:

• Early marriage leads to higher school dropout, lower labor participation, and poorer health outcomes.
  
• Adolescent girls face dangerous childbirths and limited decision-making power.
  
• Children born to young mothers are less healthy and less educated, perpetuating intergenerational poverty.
  
• One of the most unquantifiable yet devastating costs: a higher incidence of domestic violence.
  

Read the full report:

SuPWR Spotlight: Documenting Resistance to Child Marriage

As part of the SuPWR project, IDEAS has been studying how women’s movements in Pakistan resist and re-strategize against backlash to achieve and sustain long-term gains. One key area of SuPWR’s focus is the struggle of civil society actors and organizations and their allies in state institutions against child marriage.

Led by Research Fellow Maryam S Khan, this 5-year longitudinal study on child marriage examines the struggle across 3 jurisdictions. In Islamabad and Punjab, it charts the lengthy contestation over legislative reform to enhance the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18, while in Sindh it follows the convoluted trajectory in the implementation of the child marriage restraint law that was passed back in 2013. 

Using qualitative methods—including in-depth interviews, struggle diaries, focus group discussions, and theater-based reflective workshops—the study engaged civil society actors and leaders working on the ground to change the discourse on child marriage and win allies in their quest for reform. Their stories show how grassroots advocacy, political coalition-building, and socio-legal strategy helped in sustaining power in the face of deep institutional and ideological backlash.

The passage of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025 in ICT raising the legal age of marriage for girls to 18 marks a high point in the countrywide struggle. This law is more than legislative reform—it is the outcome of a long, collective women’s struggle to sustain power in the face of systemic resistance.

Read more below:

🔗 SuPWR Pakistan page
📄 IDEAS project page

Timeline of the Struggle

From colonial laws to judicial victories and political momentum, here’s how the struggle evolved:

Digital Archive on the Struggle Against Child Marriage in Pakistan

Curated by Khadija Tahir, our digital archive maps over a decade of grassroots advocacy, legal reform, and public debate.
🧾  Explore our digital archive:

Anti-Child Marriage Struggle SuPWR

When, how, and why do women’s power struggles succeed in retaining power and sustaining their gains against contemporary backlash? ‘Sustaining Power for Women’s Struggles in South Asia’ (SuPWR) is a five-year ESRC-funded research project that aims to respond to this question in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. The study was conducted from 2019 to 2024.

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SuPWR Blog Series

Child Marriage in Pakistan: Legal Ambiguities & Landmark Judgements
By Mahnaz Shujrah | Sep 8, 2022
Examines legal contradictions through key cases like Dua Zehra.

Child marriage in Pakistan: Conversations with activists  By Mahnaz Shujrah | Mar 8, 2023 Highlights socio-cultural resistance through activist interviews.

Beyond the Law: Youth as Advocates to Prevent Child Marriage By Khadija Tahir | Mar 10, 2025 Explores how young people are reframing the issue around consent and rights.

📸 SuPWR Exhibition

From December 16–18, 2024, IDEAS co-hosted the SuPWR Exhibition at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as part of the Pathways to Development Conference. 

IDEAS documented the anti-child marriage campaign’s legal victories and grassroots mobilization across ICT, Sindh, and Punjab. This case was displayed alongside other regional movements, creating space for reflection, learning, and cross-border solidarity.

🎨 View the full SuPWR Virtual Exhibition here to explore all 16 struggles from across South Asia: https://ideasdev.org/news/sustaining-power-womens-struggles-against-contemporary-backlash-in-south-asia-supwr-exhibition-2/

📽️ Watch testimonies from activists and researchers who attended the SuPWR exhibit and for a walkthrough of the full exhibit.

📚 For More: Wakelet Archive

Explore our Wakelet archive for legal judgments, news articles, and case material related to child marriage in Pakistan: https://wakelet.com/wake/J-NUyFSXVW4xS75xJsLw5

Explore the SuPWR Pamphlet featuring 16 women’s rights struggles