Motives Behind the Customary Practice of Child Marriage in Mohmand Agency, Pakistan

Abstract

This present study aimed to determine the motives behind the customary practice of child marriage in District Mohmand Khyber Pakhtunkhwa previously Mohmand Agency. The study was carried out at the selected 04 Tehsils of Ambar Utmankhel, Prang ghar, Pindilai and Halimzai as its locale. Mixed Methods Research (MMR) approach was adopted with concurrent triangulation as an analysis strategy. The quantitative data was collected through questionnaire from 200 male and female child marriage practitioners, who were selected with equal representation on the basis of Tehsil and gender through quota sampling technique under the non-probability sampling method in view of the unknown number of target population in the sampled area. The qualitative data was collected through in-depth interviews from 05 religious leaders, one each from sampled tehsil. Further, 04 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), one in each sampled tehsil were held with local leaders (Maliks). In the bi-variate, the Chi-Square test was applied for measuring the association between study variables. Likewise, qualitative data was examined by transcribing and grouping it into different themes for interpretation. The results of both data were merged and discussed through the appropriate technique of concurrent triangulation strategy. In the quantitative section, the results showed that out of 200 respondents, 100 each were males and females. Maximum number i.e. 78 (39%) of respondents were from the age group 16-27 years and majority i.e. 99 (49.5%) respondents were illiterate. The quantitative results showed that parental level of education had a significant association (p=0.000) with child marriage. Whereas, economic factors (p=0.001), cultural elements (p=0.001) religious factors (p=0.003) and legal aspects (p=0.005) had also significant association with the dependent variable. The qualitative results found multiple factors like low educational level of parents, low family income, strict adherence to socio-cultural norms, misinterpretation of religious teachings and non-implementation of relevant laws as contributory factors to the practice. Low level of parental education and family income were observed mainly in the case of girls. Moreover, illiterate parents thought marriages of their female children as an achievement by perceiving it as shedding down their responsibilities. While the fear of threat to family honour, misinterpretations of religious teachings related to marriage and lack of law enforcement were also found as the leading factors towards child marriage. Briefly, high influence of illiterate parents, entrenched cultural norms, low family income, misinterpretation of religious teachings and lack of proper implementation of relevant laws were found as major causes behind child marriage practice. The study recommends enhanced educational and awareness level, encouragement of girls‟ education and increased skills development opportunities for them, an increased role of religious leaders, reducing poverty and strict implementations of relevant laws as important in reducing child marriage frequency in the study area.