Research Consultant for Report on Child Marriage and Family Laws in South Asia
TERMS OF REFERENCE: RESEARCH CONSULTANT FOR REPORT ON INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN CHILD MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LAWS IN SOUTH ASIA
OVERVIEW
Equality Now is an international human rights organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights of women and girls around the world since 1992. One its four main programme areas is on ending harmful practices (EHP), where work in recent years has largely focused on issues relating to child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) and female genital mutilation (FGM). Equality Now also serves as the Secretariat to the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law.
Equality Now is looking to hire a short-term research consultant to support the research and drafting of a report on the Intersections between Child Marriage and Family Laws in South Asia.
BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH
Equality Now’s global approach to addressing CEFM focuses on advocating for strong laws and policies that set 18 as the minimum age of marriage without exceptions and emphasize the importance of provisions that address the gendered aspects of forced marriage. Beyond legal reforms, our advocacy promotes holistic, multi-sectoral policies that call for coordinated implementation of good laws as well as tackle the root causes of CEFM and address intersecting issues such as sexual violence, marital rape, and the legal rights of women and girls leaving CEFM situations, including rights to divorce, property, inheritance, and child custody.
In South Asia, despite progressive laws on child marriage being adopted by most countries in the region, there is little attention or awareness regarding personal status/family laws that affect some religious and minority communities. For instance, laws governing marriages of Hindus and Christians in Bangladesh still allow for exceptions to the minimum age of marriage below 18. Similarly, amongst the Muslim community in India, though India’s law prohibits child marriage under 18, there have been conflicting judgments as to whether this law applies to the Muslim community. In Sri Lanka, while the general law sets the age of marriage to 18, only the minority Muslim community has an exception under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA), which allows marriage at any age. Equality Now has conducted an initial mapping of personal laws relating to CEFM affecting minority communities in South Asia, and is working closely with the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law towards highlighting this critical issue.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES
The Consultant will undertake the following activities:
- Research on Protection Gaps in Family Laws related to Child Marriage in South Asia:
- Building on the initial mapping undertaken by Equality Now, research on the protection gaps which enable child marriage within religious and minority communities across 8 South Asian Countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, The Maldives).
- Highlight disparities in legal standards under general laws on child marriage operating in the country as compared to personal/family laws governing minority religious communities (where they exist)
- High-level overview/research of key case laws on child marriage in relation to personal/family laws of minority communities
- Describe any recent reform efforts towards amending family laws relating to child marriage in South Asia
- Map civil society organizations and groups working to end child marriage within religious and minority communities in South Asia, with a deeper analysis of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal
- In preparing the draft report, the Consultant should:
- Prepare a regional overview of existing protection gaps in laws relating to child marriage across South Asia, with an focus on family laws
- Provide in-depth case studies of the situation regarding implementation of existing laws on child marriage as linked to family laws in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal
- Develop targeted recommendations to close legal protection gaps and improve implementation of family laws relating to child marriage
- Prepare a separate annex document mapping CSOs working to end child marriage (regional, with particular empasis on Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal), including a brief description of areas of focus, and contact details where available
- Respond to any feedback from Equality Now which will consist of requests for clarification and/or additional data; and update the draft report based on comments and input from Equality Now.
DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE
The key deliverables of the consultancy are:
i) Inception Report, highlighting the planned timeline for development of the report, proposed methodology, and draft outline and structure of the report
ii) Conduct research on links between child marriage and family law in South Asia; and prepare a draft report, along with a list of recommendations.
iii) Prepare and submit final research report, with feedback integrated from Equality Now.
We expect the report to be fully completed within a period of three months from the date of signing the contract with the selected Consultant.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
The consultant who will be recruited for this task must have the following qualifications and experience:
➢ Advanced university degree in law, human rights, and/or women’s rights.
➢ A minimum of 5 years of experience working directly on women’s rights, preferably in the South Asia region,
➢ Demonstrable knowledge and experience on child marriage issues in the South Asia region.
➢ Excellent writing and analytical skills.
➢ Proficiency in English required, and proficiency in a South Asian language (particularly Urdu, Nepali or Bengali) is desirable.
METHODOLOGY, REPORTING LINE, AND DELIVERABLES
The consultancy is a home-based assignment with the potential for consultative meetings. The methodology that will be employed will encompass largely desk research and review of laws and judgments relating to child marriage and family laws in South Asia. The consultant will work closely with Equality Now staff in delivering the report.
The budget available for this consultancy is a total of USD 6000, to be paid in installments.
The deadline for applications is 23rd June 2025.
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