Pakistan, May 29 -- In rejecting a bill to outlaw child marriage in Islamabad, the Council of Islamic Ideology has once again positioned itself not as a moral guide but as a shield for patriarchal violence. Tragically, we still need to say out loud how there is no religious legitimacy in tying a child to a lifelong sentence of physical trauma, psychological damage, and social exile. This is especially true in a country that reported over three thousand child abuse cases last year alone and we know the actual number is much, much higher.

The proposed legislation-a crucial reform aimed at raising the legal age of marriage for both sexes to 18-was unanimously passed by both houses of Parliament this week, a testament to the legislative will...