The group of more than 50 people was led by the organisers of several movements including #PelajarBukanPengantin, #SchoolNotSpouse, #WhenIwas11, and #EndChildMarriage. These movements were initiated by the Women’s Aid Organisation, Sisters in Islam, The Body Shop and the Association of Women Lawyers.
They began gathering at about 8.30am before marching to Parliament to hand over a memorandum and a petition with over 156,000 signatures to the government.
Some of the children, dressed in their school uniforms, chanted slogans such as “Hey hey ho ho! Child marriage has got to stop!”
Lawyer Robyn Choi, who runs the #PelajarBukanPengantin movement, said it was a platform to allow students a say in matters which concern them.
“With things like child marriage, if the kids are old enough to get married, they are old enough to say something about it,” she added.
She said a survey conducted at schools since July showed that most schoolchildren were in fact not ready to get married.
Several government representatives were present to receive the memo and petition, including Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Fuziah Salleh, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Hanipa Maidin, Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching, Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah and Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil.
Yeoh said the government would continue to fight for an end to child marriage.
“The government hears you. Even if you only have 10 signatures, we will still do what needs to be done. We also want to end child marriage,” she said.
Fuziah agreed that there should be an end to child marriage which she said did more harm than good.
She also said Putrajaya would consult various authorities on the issue.
“We will table an amendment to the law which requires a special guideline in approving child marriages in the shariah courts by the end of this Parliament sitting,” she said.
The issue of child marriage came under the spotlight in July, following reports that a 41-year-old man in Gua Musang had taken an 11-year-old girl as his third wife.
This was followed by reports of another marriage in Tumpat, Kelantan, where a 15-year-old girl married a man nearly three decades her senior after the union received the go-ahead from the Shariah Court.