“We have already (written to each state government). So far, there have been responses from Selangor and Penang,” she told reporters after the International Women’s Day celebration at Dewan Perdana Felda.

“Child marriages fall under the states’ jurisdiction and we cannot impose on them, we can only write to them. For some states, it’s not that they don’t want (to ban child marriages) but it’s not easy for them, especially (when it comes to) native laws,” she said.

Nancy said that the Cabinet had also instructed religious affairs minister, Na’im Mokhtar, to visit each state to hear their opinions on the matter while conveying the federal government’s views.

To date, only Selangor has amended the law to ban child marriages in the state.

Earlier today, education minister Fadhlina Sidek said child marriages must be addressed as they could deprive underage girls of their potential, hindering their access to education.

Fadhlina warned that failure to tackle this issue would create gender discrimination in society.

In March last year, Nancy’s predecessor Rina Harun said the then government had no plans to ban child marriages.

Later in July, 2022, in a parliamentary written reply, Rina shared that child marriages in the country were on a downward trajectory.

Referring to data from the statistics department, Rina said there were 1,856 child marriages in 2018, compared to 1,459 in 2019 and 1,124 in 2020.