It is estimated that 650 million girls and women in the world today marry before the age of 18. Every year, millions of children are married against their will or without fully comprehending the implications of their actions.
Child marriage is a social phenomenon practiced across countries in which a young child (usually a girl below the age of fifteen) marries an adult man. The second type of practice of child marriage is one in which the parents of the two children, the girl, and boy, arrange for a future marriage where the boy and girl do not until they are of marriageable age.
Social norms, gender inequality, poverty, lack of education, safety concerns about girl children, and control over sexuality are considered to be reasons for the rising incidence of child marriages. Girl children in rural areas are more affected than their urban counterparts.
What is the current status of Child Marriage in India and the World?
According to Save the Children’s Global Girlhood Report, an additional 5 million girls are at risk of child marriage globally between 2020 and 2025 as a result of reported increases in all types of gender-based violence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Save the Children, an NGO, estimates that approximately 15 million girls and boys will never return to school as a result of pandemic lockdowns and school closures. Children who do not return to school are at a higher risk of early marriage, child labour, and military recruitment. Over 24 million child brides are estimated to exist in India. According to the International Centre for Research on Women, India has the 14th highest rate of child marriage in the world.
Bihar is the worst state for child marriage, according to a recent district-level household and facility survey (DLHS) conducted for the Health Ministry, where nearly 70% of women in their early twenties reported having been married by the age of 18; the best is Himachal Pradesh at 9%.
According to the most recent National Family Health Survey-5 data, child marriage has decreased by 23% in the last five years, as of 2020-21.
Current situation
What are the causes of the prevalence of Child Marriage?
A series of events leads to children being trapped in marriages.
“Protecting” the Girl’s Sexuality: Marriage to a young girl is thought to “protect” the girl’s sexuality and the family’s honour in some cultures.
Poverty: Children are sometimes sold through marriage to pay off debts or to break the cycle of poverty.
Security: Parents frequently marry off their daughters when they are young in order to “secure” a good future for them.
Customs and Traditions: Families in places where child marriage is common face a lot of social pressure to marry off their daughters or face ridicule, disapproval, and family shame. Traditions like dowry place a lot of strain on the family because the parents must give a lot of money. Generally, the amount of dowry increases with the age of the girl. As a result, families prefer to marry off their daughters when they are young.
Gender discrimination: Child marriage is the best example of discrimination against women and girls. This practice disproportionately affects young girls. Their family chooses the husband to whom they will marry when they reach puberty and can bear children while they are still very young, sometimes at birth.
Enforcement of Laws: Laws are not strictly enforced. In many cases, the ages of the bride and groom are not verified at the time of marriage registration. Many child marriages go unregistered.
What measures have been taken to prevent child marriage?
Historical Efforts
In the nineteenth century, social reformers such as Raja Rammohan Roy, Iswarchandra Vidyasagar, and Pandita Ramabai worked to eradicate this evil practice. Further Age of Consent Act of 1891 raised this age to 12 years. The Sharda Act of 1929 raised the marriage age to 14 years for girls and 18 years for boys.
Legislative Steps
The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 sets the marriage age at 18 for girls and 21 for boys.
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006: This act superseded the Child Marriage Restraints Act of 1929. It criminalizes the acts of anyone who performs, conducts, directs, or abets any child marriage and provides for punishment of up to 2 years in prison and a fine of up to INR 1 lakh.
Other laws that provide protection to a child bride include the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015; the Domestic Violence Act, 2005; and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
The Union Cabinet has approved raising the age of marriage for women to 21. A Parliamentary Standing Committee has been set up to weigh the pros and cons of the same.
Government Policy/Schemes
There are strategies in the National Population Policy 2000 and the National Youth Policy 2003 to address the vulnerability of girls in the context of child marriages. Provision of non-formal education and vocational training, development of livelihood skills, and education and awareness of sexual and reproductive health issues were among these ideas. The government has also implemented programmes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, and others. States like UP and Bihar, among others, have launched schemes to encourage girls to go to school and delay child marriage.
The Global Programme to End Child Marriage a UNFPA-UNICEF initiative, promotes the rights of adolescents to delay marriage. Child marriage is included in Sustainable Development Goal 5, ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’ under Target 5.3. The Knowledge Hub (K.Hub) is a web portal exclusively focused on the issue of child marriage, designed to meet the growing demand in India and neighboring countries for evidence-based approaches to child marriage prevention.
What should be the approach going ahead?
Empowering the Girl Child: Governments should take every possible step to improve girls’ access to education e.g., Governments can provide proper sanitation facilities in schools. Incentives for girls to increase their school enrolment may also be provided.
Proper Implementation of Laws: To prevent child marriages, Village Panchayats must collaborate closely with Child Protection Committees and Child Marriage Prohibition Officers.
Social Change: There is a need to educate parents and society about the dangers of child marriage. Rallying the larger community to support girls’ rights will help bring about change. Social change will be more effective than coercive measures and laws in preventing child marriage.
Financial Upliftment: Providing families with income-generating opportunities, such as microfinance loans, is an effective way to prevent child marriages caused by financial stress.
Conclusion
Child marriage means the end of childhood, deprives children of their rights, and has negative societal consequences. The efforts of the Union and State Governments, as well as non-governmental organisations, have resulted in a significant decrease in the number of child marriages. However, all stakeholders must continue to work together until this evil practice is completely eradicated.