By Rafiq Vayani
KARACHI: SOC Films, with two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy at the helm, and the Legal Aid Society (LAS) have formally signed a two-year agreement to launch a comprehensive child marriage awareness and advocacy campaign, beginning in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).
The partnership brings together SOC Films’ expertise in storytelling and public engagement with Legal Aid Society’s legal advocacy and rights-based interventions to address one of Pakistan’s most persistent and complex social challenges.
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Founder and CEO of SOC Films, said, “Child marriage persists where silence and legal loopholes intersect. Through our partnership with the Legal Aid Society, SOC Films is using storytelling to spotlight gaps in enforcement and support meaningful reform. By aligning narrative with legal expertise, we aim to strengthen accountability and ensure that every child’s right to protection is upheld in practice, not just on paper.”
The campaign aims to deepen public understanding of child marriage laws while addressing the underlying social, economic, and climate-driven factors that continue to drive the practice. Despite existing legal frameworks, implementation gaps, limited awareness, and systemic pressures often allow child marriage to persist – particularly in vulnerable communities.
Haya Emaan Zahid from the Legal Aid Society added, “Child marriage is not just a social issue, it is a legal and human rights violation. Every child marriage is a childhood stolen – a future cut short before it even begins. Behind every case is a girl forced to grow up too soon, silenced by fear and denied her right to choose her own life. Through this partnership with SOC Films, we are combining the power of law, media and community engagement to ensure enforcement, strengthen systems, drive accountability and legislative reform and not just tell their stories, but fight for justice so that every child is safeguarded and protected under the law.”
Through a combination of content creation, community outreach, legal awareness initiatives, and policy engagement, the campaign will focus on both enforcement and prevention. It seeks not only to close legal loopholes but also to provide viable alternatives to families who resort to child marriage due to financial hardship, displacement, climate stress, or lack of access to education and opportunity.
Over the next two years, the collaboration will roll out multi-platform storytelling, community-based engagement, and advocacy efforts designed to ensure widespread awareness and comprehension of the law – and a broader societal understanding of why child marriage continues to occur.
The campaign is now live, with initial activities in Sindh and KPK, and will expand based on impact and stakeholder engagement.
