Early Age Forced Marriages of Girls: A Comparative Study of Pakistan and Australia

Abstract

: Cross-country comparison, specifically between a developed country and developing country, is very useful because it indicates which factors are central to the problem. The following settings provide strong foundation to make comparison between Australia and Pakistan for deep understanding of the issue of early age force marriages of girls. Firstly, Australia is a developed country; a cross- cultural research is one of the Australian Government’s priorities for global political, social and economic reforms and Pakistan can take advantage of this commitment. Secondly, both countries have signed and ratified the major relevant international conventions and agreements. This shows that both countries are committed to eliminate this problem of early age marriages of girls in their societies. Thirdly, both countries adopted inherited British legal justice system based on Common Law and the British system of governance; therefore there are common elements of interest across different areas of governance and legislation. Accordingly, both countries have enacted legislation, devised policy and operational procedures for implementation that provides a firm basis to compare both countries governance and legal system. Fourthly, a large number of diasporas or immigrants from Pakistan are residing in Australia, who tries to maintain active connections with their culture, traditions and norms of place of origin.