In the 21st century, nobody would have believed that we do have that cursed practice of arranged and forced child marriages in Malta. It is growing increasingly unsettling to read that, as a matter of fact, these poor children go through several belittling, exploitative and ultimately dehumanising experiences. We simply cannot let the practice of arranged and forced child marriages, albeit often difficult to uncover and prove, go unchecked and unchallenged.

This anachronistic custom is still around us in our society mainly because of an influx of immigrants hailing from an insular, conservative, highly religious, patriarchal subculture that is fearful of the outside world. Indoctrination and social pressure start early. They are all "groomed" to be wives and mothers. The consequence of disobedience is to be shunned from the community and even one's own family. The girls themselves believe, at least initially, that they are happy and that their goals are fully in synch with those of their sects.

From then on, however, the poor girl is on a one-way road to hell and will be subjected to various forms of abuse and coercion, stripping her of all vestiges of human dignity. Her own family will have no sympathy for her, insisting that her husband probably just had a bit of a temper and would eventually outgrow it. If she harbours any idea of seeking help or refuge from outside sources, she will be coerced by her community into dropping it.

Girls below the internationally acceptable marriage age who are married off are undoubtedly alarming, first because of the huge health danger it poses to the children and, secondly, because it will reverse gains achieved in recent local campaigns against child marriage. Quite contrary to the perception of parents that they are socially and economically protecting their young daughters through early marriage, the practice actually exposes girls to increased health problems and violence, denies them access to social networks and support systems, and perpetuates a cycle of poverty and gender inequality.

They face immediate and lifelong consequences ranging from sexual exploitation, violence, abuse, discrimination, and harmful traditional practices such as female genital cutting. They lose their childhood, are robbed of childhood education, and their future is endangered. These girls arrive at marriage with bodies inadequately developed for pregnancy. Furthermore, in the event of an early or unplanned pregnancy, which in turn makes childbearing hazardous, there will be an increased risk of obstructed labour leading to vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) and maternal mortality.

Child brides are often unable to negotiate safer sexual practices and are, therefore, at a higher risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The practice of child marriage can also isolate girls from family and friends and exclude them from participating in their communities, taking a heavy toll on their mental health and well-being.

So how does all this affect the situation on our home front concerning forced child marriages? Statistically, we have approximately 0.5% of girls under 18 getting married or being married off. There are no legal exemptions to the present age requirement that would allow an individual under the age of 16 to marry with the consent of an authority such as a parent, guardian, judge or Maltese court. Any marriage of an individual under the age of 16 is considered void.

There is a growing discernment to suggest that, despite these exceptions, child marriage is becoming a serious concern in Malta. Some time back, Dr Mary Muscat, a lawyer and former police inspector, publicly stated that as a child advocate, she had encountered a case of child marriage and was more shocked by the lack of foresight by the Maltese authorities to spot the red flags.

Those red flags had started being waved in our midst by Walid Nabham, a Maltese author with Jordanian-Palestinian origins, who publicly asserted that he personally knows as a fact of child marriages and underage births that are happening under our authorities' very noses.

All that prompted President Emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, who chairs the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society and is Eurochild president, to appeal to our authorities to step up their investigations and leave no stone unturned to uncover the whole truth behind such alleged crimes, which violate the very essence of our children's dignity.

I would personally add that such investigations should also cover possible cases of bride kidnapping that occur when any person, by fraud or seduction, abducts a minor under the age of 18 intending to force that minor into marriage. Such cases are criminalised under our Criminal Code.

In cases of arranged and forced child marriages, the parents innocently and ingenuously see marriage as the best way to provide their children with a future. It is therefore of the utmost importance to work directly with the children and the local communities in which they are brought up to change social norms, guarantee access to health, education, and legal services, and ensure a strong legal framework. Above all, we must adopt and enforce better laws to protect children and, in particular, not deny girls their dignity and ability to make fundamental choices in their own lives.

Dr Mark Said is a lawyer