THE LEGAL MARRIAGE AGE SHOULD BE 21 YEARS

It is said by one of the greatest feminists of our time, Angelina

Jolie, that
“There is no greater pillar of stability than a strong, free, and
educated woman.”

To make the Indian women exactly that- strong, free, and

educated. In a revolutionary decision, the Indian Government
changed the legal marriage age of women to 21 years, making
the legal marriage age equal for all genders.

Since all the genders should stand on a level playing field, having
equal footing in opportunities and representation, there should not
be any distinction in legal marriage age.

Back in the 19th Century, when we were not so developed in the

ideas of feminism and gender equality, the women of our country
were wed off by the age of 10-15 years, the practice of which was
attempted to be barred by Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1978,
making women marriageable at the age of majority.

Another progressive act, the Prevention of Child Marriage Act in

2006 aimed at abolishing child marriage yet the archaic practice
ceases to continue in countless regions of the country.
When vulnerable genders like women are married young, before
even having the chance to explore themself and their identity,
when they are expected to magically grow up, act mature, and be
responsible to take care of themselves and their family, their in-
laws, and their husband, they lose the chance of being
themselves, which makes them unconfident and dependant on
their families.
These women are the kind of women that have to forcefully stay
in abusive households, in toxic environments just to be able to
feed themselves each day.

Many daughters-in-law are the victims of the immense pressure

from their in-laws to bear a child when they’ve barely reached the
age of majority themselves. This pressure, when they succumb,
exposes them to the heightened risk of high blood pressure,
anemia, postpartum hemorrhage, poor fetal growth, and fetal
distress.

Not only physiologically, but early marriages and pregnancies

also cause mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and
postpartum depression.

The legal age of the genders being set at 21 years is yet the best
decision the current government has taken. Even if this decision,
changes the life of one persons, if it lets one woman complete her
education and make her financially independent, this decision will
be deemed successful.
Here’s to saving more daughters!

THE LEGAL MARRIAGE AGE SHOULD BE 18 YEARS

18. The age everyone waits for. The age we get excited when we
attain. The age we attain majority, we can finally go out there and
vote, choose the right reperesetative for our government, we can
finally give our consent, we can enter into a contract but oh no,
we cannot marry the person of our choice because apparently we
aren’t mature enough of that

What kinda logic is that?

It is striking to note the paradox within the legal fraternity of our

nation. Law Commission in 2018 had made suggestion of
modifying the minimum legal age for both men and women to to
get married should be 18 years.

There are numerous countries like Australia, Finland, France,

Greece, Iceland, Switzerland and Germany where the minimum
age to marry, to choose one’s life partner is 18 years.

And these countries are doing pretty well, I must add.

Previously the legal age to marry for women was 18 years, and
for men it was 21 years. If the government had to advocate
gender equalkity in this aspect, they could’ve brought the legal
marriagable age of men to 18 years.

I stand in Union with the Odisha State Commission for Protection of

Child Rights (OSCPCR) that has opposed the Centre’s move by deeming it
to be ineffective fo the purpose it has been brought out for.

Making women marry at the age of 21 isnt going to be of much

help. It is popularly acclaimed, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, it is
imperative to see that merely bringing one legislative change isn’t
going to halt the primitive practice of Child Marraige.
In the abusive households wherein a woman tries to escape the
home through marriage will have to wait 3 more years. For us,
having this fruitful discussion right here, it’s just a matter of 3
years. For her, those 3 years are going to be Hell, she’s going to
suffer each day and God forbid it happens, she’ll try to take her
own life if the grief and pain just doesn’t seem to stop.

Instead of bringing a legislative change in Minimum Age to Marry,

the government must focus on making Education more
accessible, as directed by the Right to Education Act, 2009. The
age of this Act should be increased from 14 years to the minimum
age of 18 years, so that more women are able to pursue higher
education.

Covid-19 has left the deepest impact on the Education Sector. For
the urban children, it was a new found way to attend the classes
while not really doing so but for the rural children, they were cut
off from the one way that they could use to escape poverty. The
rate of malnutrition rose steeply because students no loger got
their mid-day meals.

School girls, who probably were passionate to educate

themselves were dropped out of school, resorting to earning a few
pennies for their families.
And the tragic part is, they probably won’t return to education
ever. They’ll stay at home, earn a few bucks, and be wed off, if
not at 18, then at 21. But their fate wouldn’t be revived.