GIRL CHILD MARRIAGE

NIDHI RAWAL

I.G.D.T.U.W
(BAP 407) Women and Sustainable Development
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GIRL CHILD MARRIAGE

Introduction
Every little girl from a tender age fantasizes about her marriage. She has her own ideas, notions and
dreams about her new home, her partner, what her relationship will be like, her children and so on.

For many these dreams come true. Some girls really do grow up; find the love of their lives and live
happily ever after. But for a few of these unfortunate girls, life plays a cruel twist. They do get
married, but not in the manner they envisioned. They are forced to marry even before they hit
puberty often to men as old as their fathers. This wide spread practice of child marriage is the most
detrimental to our society and needs to be dealt with a firm hand.

It is common for girls who have been married off at such a young age to become pregnant well
before their bodies have fully developed. This is bad news for both the mother as well as new born
child. Many studies suggest that when girls become pregnant before puberty it can cause various
defects in the child and can also lead to untimely death of the mother.

Child marriage is one of the biggest human rights violations in the world. In most of the countries the
minimum legal age for the child marriage is 18 years. However, some countries allow marriages at
16 years as well, especially for the girl children. Getting married before reaching at this minimum
legal age is not only illegal but also against the human rights. In Asian countries, especially in India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have witnessed most numbers of child marriages in a year.
Central African countries can also be considered as the major contributor of child marriage in the
world.

The rate of occurrence of child marriages in Asian countries is 20% more than that of the rest of the
world. In Asian countries the average age of the children who are forced to get married is 10-12 and
sometimes less than that. Though a bunch of laws against child marriage are there in the nation, still
most of the cases are left unnoticed by the authority. Mostly girls become the major victims of child
marriage as people don’t wish to educate them or give them a better future. Boys become victims
too but not as much as girls do in India and other Asian countries.

Child marriage is defined by the union of two individuals who have not yet attained legal age as
prescribed by law. In India women are considered fit to marry only after they have attained the age
of 18, while boys can marry only after they are 21 years of age. In recent times, the Government has
taken a proactive approach to curb Child marriage in India. With the introduction of Prohibition of
Child Marriage Act, 2006 strict action has been taken against those indulging in child marriage. Those
found guilty are charged with hefty fines and can be imprisoned as well. The International Centre for
Research on Women- UNICEF publications have estimated India’s child marriage rate to be 47% in
1998, while United Nations reports it to be 30% in 2005. By 2009 the child marriage rate has reach
7% all over India and gives some hope for the future.

Initiatives such as ‘Apni Beti Apna Dhan’ encourage families to delay marriages by providing
incentives. Under this scheme, a government paid bond is payable to the daughters’ parents of
Rupees 25000 after the child’s 18th birthday, if she is unmarried. These programs have been
implemented with some success in state such as Haryana, where child marriages are prevalent.

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India is a mystical land of many traditions, cultures and values. However, some of our practices are
outdated and regressive. We need to abolish practices such as child marriage and ensure that the
country progresses not just economically but socially as well. While marriage is a beautiful union
between two souls, it is important to understand that child marriage only leads to loss of innocence
and broken dreams.

Reasons behind child marriage

Poverty: Most of the child marriage happens in rural or backward areas of the country. The main
reason for this is poverty for sure. Parents who have girl child but don’t earn much to give them a
better life often choose early marriage of their children. In case of poverty girls suffer the most as
they are forced to get married at the age of 10 or less. For the boys the marriage does not take place
but poverty triggers child labour.

Gender inequality: Another main reason behind such activity is gender inequality. Even today in this
modern era there are lots of places where people consider boy child as good luck whereas girl child
is not. They don’t get proper education and proper amenities to lead a good life, rather they are
being forced to child marriage.

Tradition and Culture: Some of the communities follow old traditional based on some old religious
beliefs. They neither change them nor do they want to change the cruel traditional and cultural
beliefs. Due to these beliefs’ child marriages take place in several communities.

Education: Lack of education can be considered as another big reason behind child marriage. People
who are uneducated and don’t have any idea about the post-marriage complication a toddler can
face often opt for child marriage for whatever reason. Lack of education also triggers these
mentioned beliefs to be true for many people.

Insecurity: the growing rate of women harassment and rape cases people get insecure about their
daughter’s future. Before she walks into her adulthood, parents get them married with an elderly
person believing that their daughter will be in safe hands for the rest of the life.

Countries and Child Marriage:

Sl. No. Country Name Percentage of girls married before 18 years

1 India 47

2 Bangladesh 66

3 Nepal 41

4 Central African Republic68

5 Madagascar 48

6 Ethiopia 41

7 South Sudan 52

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Impact on society
Every year nearly 15 million children, who are aged between 10 to 12, get married worldwide. This
means every 2 seconds a child gets married. The impact on the society and next generation is
definitely not as good as some of the people think. The growing rate of child marriage leads to so
many problems and issues in our society.

Early age pregnancy: Girls, who have just walked into adolescence age and don’t know anything
about sexual life, are forced to get into physical relationship after marriage. They suffer from early
age pregnancy which brings several medical and health problems. Most of the time, this becomes
life threatening for the victim.

Domestic violence: those who get married at early age have to face violence after marriage. Being an
innocent kid, she has to deal with complicated life after marriage which are way to difficult for a
toddler to handle. Often this triggers the in-laws and husband to torture the girl even when she isn’t
responsible for anything.

Illiteracy: this definitely stops the family to educate their girls further. At the age of 10 or 12 they
stop studying. Some of the communities believe that girls are made for the kitchen not for the
school. This belief increases the illiteracy rates in the country.

Solution to the problem

There are a bunch of laws against the child marriage in every country in the world. But
unfortunately, the rate of child marriage is growing rapidly across the globe because many of the
cases are left unnoticed by the authorities. In remote rural areas of Southern Asian countries, there
is no one to look after whether this kind of activities are taking place or not.

Awareness: it is important to spread awareness about the issue in grass root level of rural and
remote rural areas to get rid of this child marriage.

Education: educate more people about the facts and issues regarding post-marriage problems and
complications. Let the girls go to school for basic education to understand things and take their own
decision in life.

Strict Law: Laws are there but they must be stricter and more powerful so that no one can escape
from the law. The criminals must be punished in a proper way to prevent child marriage from the
society.

Proper Attention: authorities are requested to pay more attention to this fact. They should supervise
this activity more properly and punish the criminals then and there to prevent the crowing rate of
child marriages worldwide.

Conclusion
Child marriage is a serious issue in the society. Not only in under developed countries but developing
countries also have cases of child marriages. The authorities should be more cautious about the laws
and prevent this activity as soon as possible.

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QUOTES
1. Progress is possible if we take the initiatives. For this awareness and education is must. We
need to educate ourselves first to make the change and prevent the child marriages.

2. Girls can make better future if they are properly guided. Don’t spoil a bright future just
because you are over powered by old traditional beliefs.

BRAVE GIRLS SAY NO TO CHILD MARRIAGE

On the National Girl Child Day celebrated today, join us in congratulating a group of brave girls from
Maharashtra who faced tremendous challenges but were resolute in their determination to say an
emphatic NO to child marriage. These girls didn’t just resist their own early marriages but those of
other children around them.

These girls, who come from Maharashtra’s remotest, vulnerable and economically backward areas,
were felicitated with the Navjyoti award recently by UNICEF and Doordarshan –public broadcaster-
for exhibiting exemplary courage in overcome adversities.

Navjyoti is a platform to showcase the achievements of these young women, who go on to play a
greater role by turning into role models for their peers and catalysts of change in their communities.

1. Roshna Maraskolhe Eighteen-year-old, Roshna Maraskolhe from Hiwardara village in Yavatmal

district resisted not just her own early marriage but stopped that of many young girls in her village.
When her relatives tried to arrange her wedding in 2012, she threatened to call the police and send
the groom to jail. Where did the feisty Roshna find the strength to fight? “I know all about the law
against child marriage. I gained this knowledge by attending Deepshikha classes which are
conducted for adolescent girls by UNICEF in my village,’ she says emphatically.

2. Sunita Wachami Meet 15-year-old Sunita Wachami from the Naxal-hit district of Gadhchiroli.
When her elder brother and sister forced her to choose between getting married or enlisting as a
Naxal cadre, she chose education instead. “I refused to drop out of school. I told them I wanted to
complete my education and become an IPS officer,” says Sunita. Sunita now studies in Kasturba
Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, a Government-run residential school for vulnerable girls in Bhamragad.

3. Madhuri Pawar Seventeen -year-old Madhuri Pawar is among the first girls in Nivdunga village,
Jalna district, to study in standard 12. The teen found a novel way to resist her marriage. “As there
was no access road connecting our village to our school, the youth of our village got together and
built a road. I led a massive protest to compel the district authorities to send a bus to our village.
Thanks to this bus service, 20 girls from Nivdunga and four adjoining villages now have access to
school and as a result, not a single child marriage has taken place this year,” she gleams.

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4. Monika Islawat Eighteen -year-old Monika Islawat who hails from a tribal Banjara family found
herself under immense pressure to drop out of school after her standard 10 exams and get married.
“I asked myself what I would gain from marriage when my elder sister who was married before 18
was continuously beaten by her abusive husband. I didn’t want such a life for myself.’ Monika, with
the support of the Deepshikha Prerika of her village, convinced her alcoholic father to cancel the
wedding. “Today, he is proud of me and has been boasting about the fact that I have flown to Delhi
and Mumbai for awards and TV interviews,” says Monika. Monika wants to become a police officer
and close down liquor shops in her village Bhadrawati in Chandrapur district.

REFERENCES: -

1. http://unicef.in/Story/714/Brave-Girls-Say-No-To-Child-Marriage-
2. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/child-marriage-brides-india-niger-syria
3. http://www.childlineindia.org.in/child-marriage-india.htm

NIDHI RAWAL