‘Girls are not a bride or a product. All human rights belong to her.’
What The Data On Indian Child Marriages Says
Over 1.5 million girls in India are’ victims’ of child marriage. According to UNICEF, 28% of Indian women under 18 years of age have to sit on the wedding pedestal; 17% of teenagers are considered ginny; 6% of them get married at the age of 15. The highest number of child marriages is in India — one-third of the world. Greek playwright Euripides said, “Of all the animals that can perceive and think, our daughters are the worst victims.”
The Condition Of The Indian Teenage Girl
It is assumed that girls are born to handle childbirth and housework. A woman’s world is limited between the back door to the gate. Therefore, there is no difference in their lives between learning and not learning. One cannot begin to do the financial evaluation of the labour that women put for their whole family.
From this point of view, the status of women is not higher than that of slaves or forced labourers. In some parts of the Hindu world, the medieval custom of ‘gauridan’ perpetuates in order to preserve the honour of the family. Many girls die prematurely due to malnutrition or they give birth to weak children.
Ignorance is the source of their marital and sexual life. So, they are forced to give birth to many children or have repeated abortions in an unscientific manner. Through unhealthy or incontinent spouses, these young brides are exposed to some complex diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
The Indian Law On Child Marriages
The Child Marriage Prohibition Act, 2006, is currently in force to prevent girls below 18 years of age to get married. Then why is this chinimini game played with the lives of girls? Fortunately, the percentage of child marriages, which was 47% in 2005-06, has come down to 26% in 2015-16. However, in terms of numbers, the matter is still quite worrying. It is noteworthy that the declining rate of child marriage in India has brought a positive change in the world’s image.
There are several reasons behind this promising change:
(a) The rate of education of mothers has increased; (b) the participation of girls in school education is on the rise; (c) strict laws have been enacted at the Center and in the States; (d) rapid urbanisation is taking place in the country on one hand, and on the other, many families are moving to cities/towns on various occasions.
Government’s Plan To Reduce The Rate Of Child Marriages
UNICEF has noticed an increase in girls’ education in India. Interest in higher education has increased among them. Government expenditure allocation for the improved lives of adolescents has increased. In this context, the name of Mamata Banerjee’s brainchildren, Kanyashree and Sabooj Sathi project, come to the fore. The harmful aspects of child marriage have been well-publicised. The message that child marriage is a punishable offence has reached all levels of society.
Reason Behind The Increased Age Of Child Marriage
UNICEF wants people to understand until gender inequality is eliminated, India’s overall welfare will remain elusive. To marry a girl at a young age means to push her away from the campus. But the girl could stand on her own feet if she gets proper education and training. Instead of depending on others’ income, she can take the responsibility of bringing financial security to the family.
That is to say, leaving a girl uneducated and putting the yoke of husband-child-family on her shoulders at an early age not only harms her, but also a whole family, a generation and society in a larger sense.
How Child Marriage Affects The Country’s Economy
Child marriage indirectly destroys the economy of the whole country.
Illiteracy → poverty → illiteracy → poverty…
Illiteracy promotes poverty and poverty promotes illiteracy. This is a vicious cycle. A closer look reveals how serious the threat of child marriage is to the Indian economy. Strict legislation in this regard is certainly a tool but that is not enough. All measures must be taken to eradicate child marriage forever.
Emphasis should be placed on increasing ‘Adolescent Empowerment’
The world has turned into Bhubaneswar today. The big reason for this is the dramatic improvement in the exchange of information. So, it is not enough just to make strict laws in India. It is desirable for other countries of the world to take a positive view because it is difficult to keep the democratic environment free from foreign influence. In general, the minimum age for marriage for boys and girls is 18 years in most countries. In some countries, it is 21 or 22 years for boys.
Marriageable Age Across Countries
According to British civil law, the minimum age for marriage for men and women was 14 and 12 years respectively. America also followed the English Common Law until it enacted its own. Many developed countries, including the United States, later increased the age limit to 15 and 21 years for women and men respectively.
However, in developed countries, the issue of early marriage, in general, has gone up. Many countries in Africa and Asia do not differentiate between the age of marriage for men and women. In many countries, the age of marriage for girls is 20 or 21 years. In Trinidad and Tobago, Iran, Qatar, Yemen, Pakistan, Andorra, Austria, Cyprus, Portugal, Scotland, New Zealand, etc., the minimum age for marriage is less than two to four years.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) warned on International Girls’ Day in 2013 that the number of brides under the age of 15 worldwide would reach 140 million by 2020 if not warned now. In the next decade, the number will be ten crores! It is clear from the calculations already discussed that the lion’s share of this defeat will be on India’s forehead. So, India has to be the most careful. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA’s executive director, commented that there was a need to warn everyone about a “shocking” issue.
The part of the young community we are working with is the largest generation in the world so far. But they are getting married. They are becoming parents to a child at a time when in fact their own childhood is not over. In this way, we have been enabling poverty from generation to generation. We have to get the world out of this vicious circle.
China has raised the minimum age for marriage to control the population: 22 for men and 20 for women. However, the average age of first marriage in China is 26.1 years for men and 24.9 years for women. In the case of India, these numbers are 23 and 22.2 respectively. India’s numbers are worse than Bangladesh’s (26.5 and 25) and Bhutan’s (25.4 and 22.6).
It is the worst even when compared to South Korea (33.2 and 30.4), Singapore (30.1 and 26.9), Hong Kong (31.2 and 26.9), Japan (30.9 and 29.3), Taiwan (32.6 and 30.4), Ireland (36.6 and 34.6), Spain (34.5 and 32.3) and many more. Whatever the law, the average age of first marriage is higher in these countries, mainly due to the time it takes to establish financially.
The level of consciousness of Indians in this regard is not at all advanced.
Therefore, a recent initiative taken by the Government of India to increase the minimum age of marriage for girls to 21 years must be supported. However, that is not enough, because even after the minimum age of marriage (21 for boys and 18 for girls) was amended four decades ago (in 1986), the depressing picture of child marriage is still real today.
On closer inspection, it is clear that the root cause is economic. Most parents still consider their daughter a burden to the family. On the other hand, after marriage, brides become unpaid labourers in the in-laws’ house. Some unfortunate girls are sold in the name of marriage and sink into the dark world.
That is why the path of liberation is blocked in front of girls from both sides. One-fifth of the total families in the country is extremely poor. They must first be lifted above the poverty line.
Then we need proper empowerment of women.
We must provide minimum higher secondary education for all girls. The doors and windows of higher education, jobs, administration and political institutions have to be opened in front of them. As long as this is not possible, society will not be freed from the vicious cycle of illiteracy and poverty. Only a society free from the vicious circle can free Indian girls from the curse of child marriage.