RAISING MARRIAGE AGE FOR WOMEN - POLITY
News:
Parliament can amend the law to provide uniform marriage age: Supreme Court
What's in the news?
● The
Supreme Court was hearing a case brought by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay demanding
equal marriage age for men and women.
● Three
judge Bench headed by CJI dismissed a petition seeking to enhance the minimum
age of marriage of women from 18 years to 21 years, on par with men.
Key takeaways:
● Noting
that there are some matters which should be left to the “ultimate wisdom of the Parliament”, the Supreme Court dismissed
a petition seeking to enhance the minimum age of marriage of women from 18
years to 21 years, on par with men.
Marriage ages in India:
● In
India, women must be at least 18 years old before they can get married, whereas
men must be at least 21.
● The
Prohibition of Child Marriage
(Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2021. It
proposes to raise the age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years.
Laws governing marriage age in India:
1. Special Marriage Act, 1954:
It allows people from two different faith/religious backgrounds to come
together in the bond of marriage
2. Sarda Act, 1978:
Named after its sponsor Harbilas Sarda, a judge and a member of Arya Samaj, was
eventually amended in 1978 to prescribe 18 and 21 years as the age of marriage
for a woman and a man, respectively.
3. Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006:
It provides that the minimum age of marriage is 21 years in case of males, and
18 years in case of females.
Impacts of Early/Child Marriage:
Arguments for Uniform Marriage Age:
1. Gender-neutrality:
● With
this decision, the government will be bringing the age of marriage for both men
and women at par.
● The
different marriage ages contradict the principles of gender equality, gender
justice, and women’s dignity.
2. Motherhood complexities:
● An
early age of marriage, and consequent early pregnancies, also have impacts on
nutritional levels of mothers and their children, and their overall health and
mental wellbeing.
3. Mother and Child mortality:
● It
also has an impact on Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate.
4. Women empowerment:
● The
decision would empower women who are cut off from access to education and
livelihood due to an early marriage.
5. Protection from abuse:
● This
will essentially outlaw premature girls marriages and prevent the abuse of
minors.
6. Socio-economic fronts:
● Increasing
the legal age for the marriage of women has enormous benefits including the
following factors.
○ Lowering
the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)
○ Improvement
of nutrition levels
○ Financial
front opportunities will be opened up for women to pursue higher education and
careers and become financially empowered, thus resulting in a more egalitarian
society.
7. More female labor force participation:
● Increasing
the marriage age will lead to more
females graduating and hence improving the female labor force participation
ratio. The percentage of females doing graduation will increase by at least 5-7
percentage points from the current level of 9.8 percent.
8. Fundamental Rights:
● Fundamental
rights are violated by India’s different minimum marriage age for both men and
women.
9. No scientific basis:
● Age
discrimination is a de facto and de jure kind of inequality against women that
is wholly at odds with international trends, has no scientific basis, and is
founded on patriarchal preconceptions.
10. Cut-out Patriarchy:
● It
is a social fact that married women are expected to play a subordinate position
to their husbands, and the age gap significantly exacerbates this power
imbalance.
Challenges in raising the legal age of marriage for
women:
1. Illegal marriages:
● Such
legislation would push a large portion of the population into illegal marriages
leading to non-institutional births.
2. Ineffectiveness of existing laws:
● Decrease
in child marriages has not been because of the existing law but because of an
increase in girls education and employment opportunities.
3. Unnecessary coercion:
● The
law would end up being coercive, and in particular negatively impact
marginalized communities, such as the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes,
making them law-breakers.
4. Rights of the girls are threatened:
● Increasing
the age of marriage to 21 years would mean that girls will have no say in their
personal matters until they are 21.
5. Exploitation of law by parents:
● The
law has been used by parents against eloping daughters. It has become a tool
for parental control and for punishment of boys or men whom girls choose as
their husbands.
6. Social validity of marriages:
● Even
if the law declares a marriage before the specified age as void, in the eyes of
the community, arranged marriages will have social validity.
● This
worsens the condition of the girls who are widowed even before reaching the new
legal age for marriage.
7. Increased female infanticide:
● Raising
the female marriage age in India that have high son preference and high poverty
may have the unintended consequence of increasing the prevalence of female
infanticide and sex-selective abortion.
WAY FORWARD:
1. Address the root of the problems:
● While
children born to adolescent mothers have a higher prevalence of stunting and
low weight, experts argue that the underlying cause is poverty.
● There
is also a need to improve access to education,
skill training, and employment opportunities which are some of the barriers
for girls in pursuing higher education.
● It
is also important to ensure a safe
environment free from the constant threat of rape and sexual assault which
is why girls are married off early.
● Legislation
to increase the age of marriage is superficial and does not go to the root of
the problems faced by young women.
2.
Steps must be taken to address early
pregnancies instead of focusing on the age of marriage by extending family
planning and reproductive health support which focus on preparation for
pregnancy and delaying the first birth.
3.
Improving educational reach: The
answer to delaying marriages lies in ensuring access to education since the
practice is a social and economic issue.
4. Increasing Accessibility to Schools:
The government needs to look into increasing access to schools and colleges for
girls, including their transportation to these institutes from far-flung areas.
5. Need for the awareness programs:
An awareness campaign is required on a massive scale on the increase in age of
marriage, and to encourage social acceptance of the new legislation, which they
have said would be far more effective than coercive measures.
It
is a societal fact that women are expected to start families right away and are
also compelled to perform household duties in accordance with their stereotyped
family roles. This hurts their academic and professional goals, and it
frequently interferes with their right to reproductive autonomy. According to a
ruling by the Supreme Court, the legislature and the government must decide on
a uniform marriage age for men and women, no matter how desirable it may be.