In Malaysia, at least 1,500 children are married every year, across all states and throughout all ethnic and religious communities. Both boys and girls are affected by child marriage but the impact on girls is greater as they are more vulnerable to domestic violence. Detailed data on the number of child marriages across time, region and ethnic groups are not easily available. According to the Department of Syariah Judiciary Malaysia, Sarawak has the highest numbers of Muslim child marriage applications in Malaysia. The numbers would be much higher if non-Muslim and unreported child marriages are included. 

In 2018, Kedah and Selangor amended the minimum legal marriage age by raising it to 18 for both men and women. In 2019, the Sarawak State government showed full support on the proposal on addressing child marriage. However, Sarawak has yet to increase the legal marriage age for all to 18 years old for both men and women. For Sarawak’s Syariah law, the legal age for marriage is 18 years old for men and 16 years old for girls but a Syariah Judge is given the power to permit marriage for those younger than 18 and 16 respectively. However, there are no rules put in place for customary marriages.