The Curse of Child Marriage
Birth, marriage and death are the
standard trio of key events in most people’s lives. But only one, i.e. marriage,
is a matter of choice. The right to exercise that choice was recognized as a
principle of law even in Roman times and has long been established in
international human rights instruments. Yet many young girls, and a smaller
number of boys, enter marriage without any chance of exercising their right to
choose.
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| Child Bride |
Child marriage is a violation of
human rights whether it happens to a girl or a boy, but it represents perhaps
the most prevalent form of sexual abuse and exploitation of girls. The harmful
consequences include separation from family and friends, lack of freedom to
interact with peers and participate in community activities, and decreased
opportunities for education. Child marriage can also result in bonded labour or
enslavement, commercial sexual exploitation and violence against the victims.
Because they cannot abstain from sex or insist on condom use, child brides are
often exposed to such serious health risks as premature pregnancy, sexually
transmitted infections and, increasingly, HIV or AIDS.
Some are forced into marriage at a
very early age. Others are simply too young to make an informed decision about
their marriage partner or about the implications of marriage itself. Parents
may consent to child marriages out of economic necessity. Marriage may be seen
as a way to provide male guardianship for their daughters, protect them from
sexual assault, avoid pregnancy outside marriage, extend their childbearing
years or ensure obedience to the husband’s household.
The assumption is that once a girl is
married, she has become a woman, even if she is only 12. Equally, where a boy
is made to marry, he is now a man and must put away childish things. While the
age of marriage is generally on the rise, early marriage or marriage of
children and adolescents below the age of 18 is still widely practiced in
almost all over the world including India.
Child Marriage- The Story of India
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| Draupadi's Swayamvara |
As per the Hindu philosophy, marriage
is not just a process of coming together of the individuals but it is also a
holy bond and a commitment which lasts a lifetime. Even the holy scriptures of
the Vedas the sacred Hindu texts suggest that an individual should enter the
phase of “Grihasta” i.e. ‘household’ after his or her student life. According
to the philosophy of the Vedas, there is a restriction on child marriage. The
age of marriage for a boy is 25 years or more and that of a girl is 18 years or
more.
However, Child marriage, also known
as “Bal Vivaha”, is believed to have begun during the medieval ages in India as
states and governments developed and the political system elaborated under the
reign of foreign rulers. It transformed the lifestyle and opinion of the people
from a simple to more complex form, restricting significantly the notion of
liberty. Women lost their rights and had to obey rules and respect the codes
set by the society. During the same time
the political climate was unstable and law and order was not fixed on a
national level.
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| Women under threat by the invaders |
The caste system is also believed to
have contributed to the growth of child marriage. Caste systems, which are
based on birth and heredity, do not allow two people to marry if they are from
different castes. This system was threatened by young people's emotions and
desires to marry outside their caste, so out of necessity the caste heralds
played an unscrupulous game in perpetuating the system of child marriage. Thus
parents started getting over with the responsibilities of their daughters by marrying
them off at an early age.
Another reason for child marriage in
medieval India was Military Alliances between two kingdoms. To ensure the
alliance was upheld by both sides, each family exchanged a young member of
their household who was reared and educated at the other family's estate. The
children were the assurance that the alliance between the families was honored,
but in case it wasn't enough, the families made a marriage arrangement to
deepen the alliance even further. They performed the marriage while the
children were still young and susceptible to their parents’ influence, the
children would have no choice but to marry who their parents chose to
strengthen the alliance.
Laws to dismantle Child Marriage in
India
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| Law of the land |
It is worthwhile highlighting
important legislative measures taken in the last century to reduce child
marriages in India. It is not entirely correct to assume that early marriage
and early pregnancy enjoyed complete social approval in the pre-independence
era. Child Marriage in India has been recognized as a social problem since the
early 1900s prompting the Indian government to accordingly formulate laws for
curbing the social menace. Presently, there are three main laws dealing with
the issue of child marriages in India;
·
The Child Marriage (Restraint) Act, 1929
·
Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act, 2006
·
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
According to the Acts, “child”
means a person who, if a male, has not completed 21 years of age, and if a
female, has not completed 18 years of age.
Child Marriage (Restraint) Act, 1929, also called the “Sarda Act”, was enacted on April 1, 1930,
extended across the whole nation, with the exceptions of the states of Jammu
and Kashmir, and applied to every Indian citizen. Its goal was to eliminate the
dangers placed on young girls who could not handle the stress of married life. This
Act defined a male child as 21 years or younger, a female child as 18 years or
younger, and a minor as a child of either sex 18 years or younger. The
punishment for a male between 18 and 21 years marrying a child became
imprisonment of up to 15 days, a fine of 1,000 rupees, or both. The punishment
for a male above 21 years of age became imprisonment of up to three months and
a possible fine. The punishment for anyone who performed or directed a child
marriage ceremony became imprisonment of up to three months and a possible
fine, unless he could prove the marriage he performed was not a child marriage.
The punishment for a parent or guardian of a child taking place in the marriage
became imprisonment of up to three months or a possible fine. It was amended in
1940 and 1978 to continue rising the ages of male and female children.
Compulsory Registration of Marriages
Act, 2006 calls
for all marriages to be registered in India. The Act states that every Indian
citizen needs to register his or her marriage within ten days of their
marriage, irrespective of religion. Such compulsory registration would be of
critical importance to prevent child marriages in the country. The Central
Government has made it mandatory for all States to make registration of
marriages compulsory.
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| Child Marriage been performed in West Bengal |
The Prohibition of Child Marriage
Act, 2006 came
into effect on 1st November 2007. The Act was put to address and fix
the shortcomings of the Child Marriage Restraint Act. The change in name was
meant to reflect the prevention and prohibition of child marriage, rather than
restraining it. The previous Act also made it difficult and time consuming to
act against child marriages. This Act kept the ages of adult males and females the
same but made some significant changes to further protect the children. Boys
and girls forced into child marriages as minors have the option of voiding
their marriage up to two years after reaching adulthood, and in certain
circumstances, marriages of minors can be null and void before they reach
adulthood. All valuables, money, and gifts must be returned if the marriage is
nullified, and the girl must be provided with a place of residency until she
marries or becomes an adult. Children born from child marriages are considered
legitimate, and the courts are expected to give parental custody with the
children's best interests in mind. Any male over 18 years of age who enters
into a marriage with a minor or anyone who directs or conducts a child marriage
ceremony can be punished with up to two years of imprisonment or a fine.
The Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, commonly known as CEDAW, is an international bill seeking
to end discrimination against women. Under Article 16 of the bill, Marriage and
Family Life, states that all women, as well as men, have the right to choose
their spouse, to have the same responsibilities, and to decide on how many
children and the spacing between them. This convention states that child
marriage should not have a legal effect, all action must be taken to enforce a
minimum age, and that all marriages must be put into an official registry. India
signed the convention on July 30, 1980 under the membership of Indira Jaising
and made the declaration that, because of the nation's size and amount of
people, it's impractical to have a registration of marriages. The term of the
membership is expiring in 2012.
Child marriage prevention campaign
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| Child marriage campaign by an NGO |
Despite legislation forbidding child
marriage in India since 1929 with the Child Marriage Restraint Act, and the
adoption of the much more progressive Prohibition of Child Marriage Act in 2006
and the existence of many initiatives to prevent child marriage, marrying
children off at a very tender age continues to be accepted as a social norm by
large sections of society.
With the view to curb the social
hazard, the governments both central and state along with several voluntary
organizations all across the country have time and again worked to conceptualize
policies. Apni Beti, Apna Dhan is one of such social policy which was
implemented by the government of India in the state of Haryana in the year
1994. The policy is one of India's first conditional cash transfer programs
dedicated to delaying young marriages across the nation.
According to the policy on the birth
of a mother's first, second, or third child, they are set to receive 500
rupees, within the first 15 days to cover their post-delivery needs. Along with
this, the government gives 2,500 rupees, to invest in a long-term savings bond
in the daughter's name, which can be later cashed for 25,000 rupees, after her
18 birthday. She can only receive the money if she is not married. Apart form
this scheme there are several other schemes like Balika Samridhi Yojana, Free
Education for Girls Scheme, Girl Child Protection Scheme 2005 etc. to tackle
and reverse the disturbing trend of child marriage in India.
What sustains the practice of Child
Marriage?
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| Child marriage in Jharkhand |
Even with laws and attractive schemes
are in place there are multiple reasons why child marriages still take place in
many parts of India, the traditional mindset of the people and the deep-rooted
beliefs of the families that hold girls as liability and a burden. As a result
they are married off and sent to the husband’s house as soon as possible. As
the custom has been followed for centuries, there is an immense social pressure
from the society to marry off children, especially girls, at a young age.
Social pressure from within the community is one of the main reasons pressurizing
parents into getting their children married so young. In 2005, Shakuntala
Varma, a supervisor under the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme
(ICDS) intervened to stop a child marriage, and was consequently threatened and
attacked by some people resulting in her hands being severely injured. Such examples
show the resistance to any steps taken to curb the practice of child marriage
which is deep-rooted in Indian society.
Other reasons underlying the practice
consist of the importance attached to virginity. Rural families consider the
virginity of the girl as something very important and a matter of family
honour. There is high amount of insecurity and anxiety related to safeguarding
the virginity of the girl. Marriage is considered to be “safe” to keep the girl
protected from unwanted sexual advances; without such security, a girl who is
unmarried and no longer is a virgin considered to ruin the family reputation. If
a girl loses her “virgin status” whether through consensual sex or forced
sexual assault she is no longer considered suitable for marriage in Indian
society. This custom has been followed since centuries and pressure from
community forces parents to marry off children at a young age.
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| Mass Child Marriage in Rajasthan |
Moreover, dowry is one of the key
reasons for the existence of this practice. It has been observed that in many
cases, greater dowry is demanded from parents of older girls, which means more
the age of the girl, higher is the dowry the parents have to pay. Hence,
poverty-stricken parents are forced to marry their daughters to avoid such
dowries. What is more, sometimes in families where there are many daughters,
the parents conduct their marriages on the same day to save on extra
expenditure. Child marriages continue due to poor implementation of the
existing laws. Even though some people are aware about the law but still they practice
child marriage. In addition, the lack of
political will also enables this practice unabated.
Consequences of Child Marriage
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| A child bride in Bihar with her baby |
Modern India continues to be plagued
by social and health ills like child marriage, early motherhood. According to
the latest data released by UNICEF in the “State of the World's Children report
2012” shows that almost 22% women in India, who are now aged between 20 and 24
years gave birth to a child before they turned 18. Marrying early places girls
at greater health risks one of the greatest being early pregnancy and
childbirth which give cause to serious reproductive health problems and
contributes to high Maternal Mortality Rates (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rates
(IMR).
Young women are married off to
partners who are much older. In such marriages, women have less decision-making
power in sexual behavior and practices, increasing their risk of reproductive
and sexually transmitted infections.
Young girls lack knowledge about use and usefulness of contraceptives
which makes them vulnerable to infections like HIV/AIDS and other diseases. According
to UNICEF report only 35% adolescent males aged between 15 to 19 and 19%
adolescent females have a comprehensive knowledge of HIV.
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| Victim of domestic violence |
A UNICEF study points out that India
has one of the highest levels of domestic violence. In India 53% of women, who
were married less than 18 years faced domestic violence. Domestic violence is a
major problem among adolescent girls who marry early. Women who marry younger are more likely to be
beaten, threatened or sexually abused. They are sometimes more likely to
believe that a husband might be justified in beating his wife. Due to the age
difference between the partners, young girls are more vulnerable and therefore
susceptible to abuse.
Child marriage denies schooling for
girls and their right to education, necessary for their personal development
and their effective contribution to the future wellbeing of the society.
Sometimes, girls who prefer to go to school before or after marriage may not be
allowed to pursue higher studies. Usually girls are pulled out of school
putting an end to their education and development. Lack of education among
girls makes them vulnerable and hinders their individual development. Many parents
believe that investment in a girl’s education is a waste of money because ultimately
she would have to get married and go away to the husband’s house where she will
take care of the household. Withdrawal from school in order to get her married
limits her opportunities to become an informed and self reliant individual. In
many cases, the Married Girl Child is also not allowed to socialize and to make
friends outside her family.
Status quo of Child Marriage in India
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| Bride and Groom |
According to the Registrar General of
India's latest Sample Registration System (SRS) survey report, submitted to the
Union health ministry earlier this year girls in Delhi are least likely to get
married before reaching the age of 18 while those in Jharkhand are most likely.
India's Capital recorded the lowest percentage of women at 0.5% who got married
before 18 years of age in 2010 followed by Haryana at 0.7% and Jammu &
Kashmir at 0.9%. However, Jharkhand recorded the highest percentage of women at
13% who got married before the legal age of marriage followed by Rajasthan at 10.1%
and West Bengal at 8.2%.
An average woman in India in 2010 got
married at 21 years of age. The percentage of women who got married before the
age of 18 was nearly three times higher in rural India at 6% compared to urban which
stands at 2.4%. Interestingly, there has been a 61% decline in the percentage
of women getting married before 18 years of age between the years 2001-2010 from
12.7% to 5%. In 2001, nearly eight states recorded below 18 marriages to the
tune of 10% and above. In comparison, in 2010, only two states recorded such
high rates of below 18 marriages, they are Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
Turning things positive some states
have witnessed a drastic dip in under 18 marriage like Andhra Pradesh from
12.7% in 2001 to 4% in 2010, Assam from 11.7% to 3.4%, Karnataka from 15.8% to
3.6%, Madhya Pradesh from 25.3% to 4% and West Bengal from 18.2% to 8.2%. Some
larger states recorded a minor dip like Maharashtra from 6.4% in 2001 to 4% in
2010, Uttar Pradesh from 8.4% to 5.4% and Kerala from 3.5 to 2.2.
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| Couple in Rajasthan |
One of the biggest problems with
early marriage is that it leads to early childbirth. “The State of the World's
Children report 2012” released by UNICEF some time back said almost 22% women
in India, who are now aged between 20 and 24 years gave birth to a child before
they turned 18. According to UNICEF, more than 40% of the world's child
marriages still occur in India. Where as worldwide, more than 60 million women
between 20 and 24 years were married before they turned 18.
According to the Union health
ministry's Family Welfare Statistics 2011, for every woman aged below 18
getting married in urban centers, three women are doing so in rural areas.
Wrapping things up
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| Beginning of a new life |
The practice of child marriage is
characterized by the fact that both the bride and the groom are under aged,
sometimes as young as five or six years old. This aspect of early marriages is
unlike some other parts of the India and the world wherein huge age difference
exists between the two, usually the girl being the child bride. Existing laws
and the awareness campaign taken up from time to time against the practice of
child marriage have done little to diminish the feeling of the communities even
in the 21st century. In some of the states, particularly in Rajasthan on the
occasion of “Akha Teej”, which in some other parts of the country also known as
“ Akhaya Tritiya”, a day considered as auspicious for solemnizing marriages, child
marriages are solemnized in large groups openly with little or no resistance
from the community leaders. Child marriage, still largely, survives due to the
passivity, apathy and even support from members of the society.
India a child marriage hub: UNICEF
Girl who dared to challenge a social evil
Child brides invade the classrooms
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