POLICY BREIF : ENGAGING COMMUNITIES IN THE FIGHT OF

CHILD MARRIAGE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Child marriage refers to a union where one or both parties are under 18 years of age. Despite
being prohibited by international laws and most national legal frameworks, child marriage
remains a pervasive problem around the world, affecting millions of girls and boys annually. It is
a complex issue that arises from a variety of social, economic, and cultural factors, including
poverty, gender inequality, and harmful traditional practices.

Child marriage poses significant risks to the physical, emotional, and social well-being of
children. It can lead to early pregnancy and childbirth, which are major contributors to maternal
and infant mortality rates, and deprive children of their fundamental human rights, such as
education, health, and protection. Furthermore, child marriage perpetuates cycles of poverty and
gender inequality, limiting the economic and social opportunities of affected children and their
families.

In addressing the problem of child marriage, a multi-faceted approach is required, involving the
promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of girls, education, and awareness-raising
campaigns, strengthening legal frameworks, and the provision of support services for victims and
at-risk children. International organizations, governments, civil society, and communities must
work together to create a supportive environment for children, free from harmful practices and
discrimination, and ensure that their rights are protected and fulfilled.
 CHILD MARRIAGE

INTRODUCTION:

UNICEF defines Child marriage as any formal marriage or informal union between a child under
the age of 18 and an adult or another child. While the prevalence of child marriage has decreased
worldwide – from one in four girls married a decade ago to approximately one in five today – the
practice remains widespread. Child, early and forced marriages are prevalent in almost all
societies, including developed countries. Over 200,000 minors were reportedly married in the
USA (87% girls and 13% boys) in 2018. However, in terms of the percentage of girls who are
married before 18 years of age, this is greatest in poorer countries, specifically in Niger (76%),
the Central African Republic (68%), and Chad (67%). Though the country with the highest
absolute number of child marriages is India, it is estimated that one-third of all child brides live
in India with the number standing at 1,56,48,000. With the institution of child marriage, a
structure is enforced that is closely associated with the rise in patriarchy, parental and societal
control over who and when to marry, and control of women’s sexuality.

In India specifically, marriages have traditionally reinforced gender roles, where women assume
domestic duties, and men are expected to provide for the family. Child marriage, as an
institution, further perpetuates a structure closely linked to the growth of patriarchy, societal and
parental control over who and when to marry, and the regulation of women's sexuality. Due to
the practice of child marriage, many women are wedded before they acquire adequate bargaining
power, such as earning capabilities or decision-making abilities regarding contraception and
marital dissolution. Furthermore, they may lack legal knowledge on how to exit a marriage.
According to recent surveys, 27% of girls in India are married before the age of 18, with states
like Bihar (46 percent), West Bengal (41 percent), Rajasthan (40 percent), Jharkhand (36
percent), Uttar Pradesh (33 percent) have a quite high proportion of child marriage.
 Child marriage in India worst performing states

Child Marriage and Female Education:

Child marriage robs girls of their childhood and threatens their lives and health. Research has
shown that there is a strong correlation between a girl's level of education and the age at which
she gets married. In fact, education significantly impacts a girl's health and the health of her
offspring and is likely to influence the education of her children. In low-income countries, these
numbers decline even further, with less than two-thirds of girls completing primary education
and only one-third completing lower secondary school. According to a world bank report, due to
such restricted educational opportunities for girls and barriers to completing 12 years of
education, countries incur a loss of lifetime productivity and earnings ranging between $15
trillion and $30 trillion. In some cases, girls may drop out of school for reasons unrelated to
marriage, such as a lack of financial support, parents’ preference to have her at home, or poor
academic performance, and marriage may become the only seemingly viable life option available
to them.

IMPLICATIONS:

Child Marriage has serious implications for both individuals and society as a whole. The
consequences of child marriage can be devastating, affecting not only the health and well-being
of girls but also their social and economic opportunities. Apart from this, they are often forced to
abandon their education, putting them at a disadvantage for the rest of their lives. They are also
more likely to experience domestic violence, suffer from poor health outcomes, and have limited
access to resources and decision-making power.

A few implications are:

Perpetuates Poverty: Child marriage perpetuates poverty by promoting a cycle of poverty that
affects not only the individual girl but also the whole society. Delaying marriage allows girls to
complete their education, acquire vocational and life skills, and become leaders.

Physical and Health Complications: Child marriages have physical and health implications
such as early pregnancies, which can cause complications during pregnancy, pregnancy-induced
hypertension, a higher risk of death, premature delivery, miscarriages, and stillbirths, and affect
the health of the newborn.

Domestic violence and abuse: Child early and forced marriages have a significant association
with domestic violence. This is because young women and girls who are married off at a young
age lack the ability to negotiate, making it difficult for them to leave abusive marriages.

Child trafficking: The northern Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh
have a high demand for child trafficking for the purpose of marriage, as there is a shortage of
brides due to the imbalanced sex ratio. Young girls from Jharkhand, West Bengal, and the
northeastern states are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked as brides.

Hindrance to Demographic Dividend in India: Child marriage has a demographic impact

because it leads to an increase in population growth. Young brides tend to have more children at
a younger age, high fertility would reverse the demographic dividend window of India

Education Loss: Education loss is a common consequence for girls who marry, as they are
typically expected to leave school in order to fulfill domestic responsibilities for their household,
children, and extended family

Intergenerational Cycle: When girls drop out of school to get married, there is a knock-on
effect on the community as a whole, and for future generations. Evidence suggests that children
of young, uneducated mothers are less likely to have a good start to their education, do well in
class or continue beyond the minimum schooling. Their daughters especially are likely to drop
out, marry young and begin the cycle again

APPROACH AND RECOMMENDATIONS

We recognise the complex nature of the problem of Child marriage and the socio-cultural and
structural factors underpinning the practice. We need policies that address the multi-faceted and
multi-sectoral nature of child marriage both in terms of drivers and consequences. Our policy is
based on the root cause analysis, to cater to the major causes of Child marriage.

We identify major causes as:

Poverty: The economic status of a household is an essential determinant that supports the
practice of child marriage. Families living in poverty find this an easy way of reducing the cost
of living for the family and a way for girls to escape such poverty.

Security: Parents often fear the sexual autonomy they see as leading to premarital sex or
pregnancy out of wedlock along with sex- and gender-based violence, which they see as reasons
for marrying girls early.

Dowry: The older the daughter becomes, the fewer her suitors, and so her parents have to pay
more to get a match. Families, therefore, prefer to have the daughters married at a young age so
as to reduce the cost of dowry.

Inadequate implementation of laws: Laws prohibiting child marriage have not been
implemented effectively. The enforcement of the PCMA 2006 is weak in India. An adequate
budget has not been allocated to implementing the act by states, and this has led to overburdened
child marriage prohibition officers

Cultural practices, social norms, customs and traditions: It is important to acknowledge that
child marriage continues to be practised because it has become a social norm that is accepted and
propagated by communities

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Our policy to curb the menace of child marriage and promote education to a female children is
based on 2 approaches mainly: a behavioural approach and an intervention approach. Under the
behavioral approach, we have suggested ideas to bring transformation in mental attitude through
community participation and various other measures, while in the intervention approach we have
suggested enhancing capacity and reach of education, especially for girl child, incentives
schemes and other measures. We have further classified our policy into 6 dimensions. These are
as follows:

Education and Skill Enhancement:

 ● Enhancing reach of high school, within a radius of 5 km for easy accessibility for girls as
well.
● After a survey on the availability of toilets at primary and secondary schools,
redevelopment funds can be allocated to each school for making toilets in school.
● Ensure the safety of girls while commuting to education institutions.
Economic Security:

● Providing vocational education in schools as a part of the curriculum as well also in

evening time as extra classes to enhance basic employability after completing senior
secondary education by collaborating with local Self-help groups and NGOs to provide
necessary skills like weaving, food processing, etc to children.

Community awareness: Social norms, customs, illiteracy all plays crucial role in child
marriage. So it's important to take the whole community in confidence to ensure a change in the
mental attitude of society in general.

● NGOs can be invited to do awareness campaigns by conducting community workshops in

gram Sabha setup to make public aware about negative implications of child marriage
and positives of educating girl child.
● Religious leaders can be engaged to promote people to marry after the age of 18.

Rewards and Motivation: Providing rewards to best-performing village in Child marriage and
education metrics, also giving special mentions to families with first generation graduate girl
children can link self-esteem of people and will reduce child marriage to some extent.

ICDS and Anganwadis: The anganwadis workers are the closest contact point from the
government side with the households.

● Anganwadis workers can be used for data collection and tracking on the number of
adolescent girls of age between 10-18 and those who are engaged in academics.
● They can also act as vigilantes and inform concerned authority if she herself is not able to
counsel.

Law Enforcement: Enforcement of existing laws becomes really important to enhance

confidence in the system. The government should follow these measures:

● Marriage registration with the government should be made compulsory to ensure proper
data tracking. The newlywed couples can be allowed to register their marriage with
Panchayat secretary or with Municipality in urban areas within 7 days of marriage.
● Enhancing reach of police in rural areas by opening Police chowkis with 3-4 personnel to
ensure safety of girls.
 ● Making revisions in existing PCMA 2006 to clarify ambiguous clauses.
● Setup fast track courts for matters related to child marriage on the line of POSCO Courts.

We believe this policy would have significant impact on community engagement and play a
crucial role in shaping attitude of society in favour of girl education and community would
themselves play role of vigilantee for child marriages.

THANK YOU

SUBMITTED BY:

TEAM ACES

Vaibhav Raj | Jawed Arshad | Aryan Madhav

+91 6202771983, 8210152853

vaibhavroy003@gmail.com
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