Children

Despite being outlawed, the 2011 Census reveals that child marriage is rampant in India, with almost one in every three married woman having been wed while she was still under the age of 18 years. Further, according to the NFHS-5, the overall rate of child marriage in India stands at 23.3 percent.

Measures to curb child marriage in India include:

• Legal provisions in the form of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Further, there are relevant provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 in this regard.
• Conditional cash transfer schemes like Dhanlakshmi, Bhagyalakshmi, etc., which incentivize families to delay their daughters’ marriages.
• Policy Initiatives including the National Plan of Action for Children, 2016, National Policy for Children, 2013, and National Policy for Empowerment of Women, 2016. India is also a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Despite the above-stated measures, it has not been possible to completely eliminate child marriage in India because of the following reasons:

• Patriarchy: Pressure towards early marriage aims to minimise the dishonour associated with improper female sexual conduct. It is also a means to control the sexuality of females in a patriarchal society.
• Poverty: Girls are perceived as an economic burden and marriage transfers the responsibility to their new family.
• Education: Poor educational opportunities for girls, especially in rural areas, increases girls’ vulnerability to child marriage.
• Ineffective legal and policy reform framework: Ineffective implementation and design issues weaken the impact of reforms in terms of breaking the stronghold of existing tradition and culture.

The impacts of child marriage include:

• Violation of human rights: It violates girls’ human rights including their right to life and condemns young wives to long hours of domestic labour, social isolation and domestic violence. It also cements the lack of agency associated with women.
• Early exit from education and reduced economic potential: It cuts short the education of young females and limits their ability to acquire the required skills and knowledge needed to gain employment.
• Malnutrition and health issues: Malnutrition and early pregnancy lead to low birth weight of babies thereby perpetuating the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. Child marriage also increases vulnerability to complications relating to teenage pregnancy.
• Increased economic burden: It leads girls to have children earlier and more children over their lifetime, thus increasing the economic burden of the household.

In order to eliminate the practice of child marriage, a clear strategy by the government based on a comprehensive understanding of the issue is required. It must entail the following:

• Strengthening existing legislations: For instance, Karnataka amended the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act in 2017, declaring every child marriage void ab initio and making it a cognisable offence.
• Renewed action plans: State and district action plans in locations with high incidence of child marriage must be developed.
• Enforcement: Provision for registration of marriages need to be made compulsory, simple and user-friendly.
• Expansion of education: It should go beyond mere access, and focus on attendance, achievements and enable female students to earn adequate income.
• Attitude formation: Teachers should hold regular gender equality conversations to shape progressive attitudes that will sustain into adulthood.
• Engaging civil society: The voluntary sector including influential religious leaders should be involved to change the attitude of communities regarding child marriage.

A new development agenda, striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focusing particularly on women and gender issues, should involve the above strategies to end the practice of child marriage.