CHILD MARRIAGE – SOCIAL ISSUE
News: Global panel on child marriages on India visit
What's in the news?
● A global steering committee on child marriages is on a visit to India to witness state interventions which have helped reduce the incidents of child marriages.
● The visit is in view of an estimated increase in the number of child brides due to the pandemic.
● The UNFPA-UNICEF estimates that 10 million children could become child brides.
● Eradicating child marriage requires multi-pronged, context-specific and collaborative action.
● As the international community, we are here to learn from India's successes in reducing the incidence of child marriage," Mieke Vogels, representing the Government of the Netherlands in the Steering Committee, said.
Child marriage:
● Child marriage is a marriage in which the age of groom is below 21 years and bride below 18 years.
● Child marriage denies the child with basic right to good health, nutrition and education. Early marriage makes girls more vulnerable to violence.
Child marriage in India:
● UNICEF estimates suggest that each year, at least 1.5 million girls under 18 get married in India, which makes it home to the largest number of child brides in the world - accounting for a third of the global total. Nearly 16 per cent adolescent girls aged 15-19 are currently married.
● NFHS-5 data show that about 25% of women aged 18-29 years married before the legal marriageable age of 18.
● Marginal decline: The proportion has declined only marginally from NFHS-4 (28%).
● Higher in rural India: Expectedly, the prevalence is higher in rural than urban India (28% and 17%, respectively).
● West Bengal has the highest prevalence (42%), followed by Bihar and Tripura (40% each).
● 39% of child marriages in India take place among Adivasis and Dalits.
● The share of advantaged social groups is 17% and the remaining share is of Other Backward Classes.
Causes for child marriage:
1. Social causes:
● Value of virginity: It is believed that husband needs virgin wife and if the daughter had premarital sex it will dishonor their family.
● Gender norms: Males are more valued in an Indian family and women's primary role is to produce sons.
● Dowry: If the girl is married at a lower age they may not demand dowry as the girl is pure and believed to be an incarnation of goddess Laxmi.
● Families see it as protection against sexual assault.
2. Economic causes:
● Girl child is seen as an economic burden on a family considered as ‘Paraya Dhan’ property that belongs to the marital family.
● In poor families, dowry from the bride's family will support the groom’s family and groom financially.
● Poverty and illiteracy of a Child's parents.
● Poor girl’s family sees that marriage will protect her future.
● Child marriage means more children and more children will earn more and save family from financial problems.
● Families do not want to invest in a girl's education as there is no return from her and rather is trained to become a good wife till the age of 13 or 14 and then they are married.
3. Cultural causes:
● Child marriage is seen as custom which has been borrowed from past and people do not want to change it.
● Some people believe that if a girl is educated she will not perform its traditional duties.
● Some societies/castes have social stigma against girls married after puberty.
● It is embedded in a set of beliefs about the status of women and girls, and their role as wives and mothers.
4. Other causes:
● Lack of education: Some parents consider the age period of 15-18 as unproductive, especially for girls, so they start finding a match for their child during this age period.
● Patriarchy and gender inequalities: Another cause include the preference for sons which result in more than the preferred number of daughters.
● Inadequate implementation of the law: Lack of awareness and complains lead to poor implementation of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
Negative impacts of child marriage:
1. Social Impacts:
● Child Marriage, a violation of human rights, harms the life of the child bride. Because of child marriages, the girls are deprived of their basic rights and independence.
● This violates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that provides the right to education, right to rest and leisure, right to protection from mental/physical abuse including rape and sexual abuse.
● Child brides are more likely to experience domestic violence and have a lower status in society.
2. Education:
● Child brides most often give up education and thus lose the opportunity to empower themselves. This is a major hindrance to gender equality.
● As per statistics, girls who were faced with marriages below the age of 18 had no education (30%), primary education (21.9%), secondary schooling (10%), higher education (2.4%). This shows that child marriages would mean that girls are less likely to be educated.
● Uneducated women lose the opportunity to educate their children, increasing the risk of the next generation as well.
3. Health impacts:
● Child brides are neither physically nor emotionally prepared to be wives and mothers.
● They are more likely to face dangerous complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Risk of maternal mortality is at its highest for adolescent girls under 15.
● These complications are the leading cause of death among adolescent girls in developing countries, leaving behind vulnerable and orphaned children.
● Child marriages are associated with higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.
● Women married at 18 or younger have a 23% higher risk of disease onset, including heart attack, diabetes, cancer and stroke and will also face a higher risk of psychiatric disorders. Also, the children of minor mothers are often malnourished.
4. Economic impacts:
● Child marriages contribute to larger families and delayed demographic dividend.
● A study by the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) and World Bank states that child marriages could cost trillions of dollars to the developing countries by 2030.
● With every child bride, the world loses a teacher, doctor, scientist, entrepreneur or political leader.
● It could lead to insufficient accumulation of capital and slower economic growth.
● Due to little to no access to education and economic opportunities, child brides and families are more likely to live in poverty.
Government Initiatives:
1. Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006:
● As per the Act, a child can be a male below 21 years and female below 18.
● This law also provides provisions for the maintenance and custody of girl children who have fallen victim to child marriages.
● Under this Act, the husband is liable to pay maintenance in case he is a major. In case the husband is a minor, his parents are liable to pay maintenance.
● The law also provides for the appointment of the Child Marriage Prohibition officer to prevent child marriage and spread awareness.
2. Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021:
● Recently, the Government has increased the age of marriage of women in India from 18 to 21 years, as a delayed marriage might offer significant public health dividends and substantive benefits at the individual and societal levels.
3. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao:
● The Ministry of Women and Child Development implements the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)’ scheme, wherein women and society at large are made aware about gender equality and ill effects of child marriages.
4. CHILDLINE:
● Government of India has introduced CHILDLINE with short code 1098, a 24X7 telephone emergency outreach service for children in crisis, which responds with suitable interventions to calls for any form of assistance which a child requires, including for prevention of child marriages in coordination with police, CMPOs, District Child Protection Units etc.
Way forward:
1. Women's education:
● Education plays a critical role in keeping girls safe from child marriage. In fact, the longer a girl stays in school, the less likely she is to be married before age 18 and have children during her teenage years.
● In addition, education ensures girls acquire the skills and knowledge to find employment and a means to support their families. This can help break the cycle of poverty and prevent child marriages that occur as a result of extreme poverty and/or financial gain.
2. Women empowerment:
● Every girl has the right to decide her own future, but not every girl knows this - that’s why empowering girls is so crucial to ending child marriage.
● When girls are confident in their abilities, armed with knowledge of their rights and supported by peer groups of other empowered girls, they are able to stand up and say “NO” to injustices like child marriage.
● Empowered girls are able to re-shape perspectives and challenge conventional norms of what it means to be a girl.
● Girl children have to be given equal opportunities and right education to safeguard themselves from such practices and rise in the society.
● The journey of gender equality will only be completed once practices like child marriages; female feticides violence against women are eradicated.
3. Support to families:
● The court noted that the government was aware of the issue and had even introduced a Bill to amend the Representation of the People Act to allow overseas Indians to vote by proxy. The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill had however lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.
● Providing families with livelihood opportunities like microfinance loans is an effective way to prevent child marriages that occur as a result of financial need.
● When families have increased economic opportunities, they’re less likely to perceive their daughters as economic burdens.
● This is especially true if a girl is in school gaining valuable skills that will help generate income in the future.
4. Community participation:
● Only laws and law enforcing agencies will not prove instrumental in reducing and eventually eradicating child marriages.
● The mindset of the society has to be targeted in order to create a world free of such evils.
● Citizens will have to actively participate in spreading awareness regarding this practice and by abiding to the existing restrictions imposed by the government.
5. International examples:
● Bangladesh improved women’s education and imparted modern skills to increase their employability, which reduced child marriage and improves health and nutrition.
● The child marriage is substantially lower among women with a higher level of schooling. Therefore, an increase in years of schooling would increase the age at marriage.
In India, despite the stringent laws, the prevalence of child marriage within the society remains deep-rooted, accepted and widespread in many parts of the country. Stricter laws and behavioral change at the societal level across the world must be ensured to address this issue.