13th أبريل 2026
- Set the minimum age of marriage at 18, without exceptions, across all applicable laws.
- Make legal frameworks internally coherent and consistent, aligning them with international standards across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives: Align statutory child marriage laws with personal and family laws to eliminate inconsistencies that enable child marriage to persist.
- Strengthen legal protections for girls across all countries studied: Ensure that all children, regardless of religion or community, are equally protected against child marriage under the law.
- Adopt a multi-sectoral approach across South Asia: Legal reform must be complemented by education, social protection, and community-based interventions to address root causes.
- Invest in girls’ education and alternatives to early marriage: Keeping girls in school and expanding opportunities has proven effective in delaying marriage across the region.
- Promote comprehensive sexuality education: Address harmful norms linking sexuality and marriage, and support informed, rights-based decision-making.
- Improve implementation and enforcement: Close the gap between legal standards and practice by training the judiciary, police personnel, community leaders and other law enforcement personnel, and by strengthening accountability mechanisms and access to justice across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
- Ensure that the age of sexual consent is not conflated with the minimum age of marriage.
- Provide clear provisions on the legal validity of child marriages and offer victim-centric support services.