STEREOTYPE OF CHILD MARRIAGE

STEREOTYPE: A stereotype is a preconceived notion, especially about a group of people.

Many stereotypes are rooted in prejudice — so you should be wary of them.

In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an

expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary;
it can be, for example, an expectation about the group's personality, preferences, appearance or ability.
Stereotypes are often overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information. A stereotype does not
necessarily need to be a negative assumption. They may be positive, neutral, or negative.

There are many stereotypes based on child marriage are prevalent in India. Even a recent
study on child marriage published in the Lanchet noted the overall decrease in child marriage across the
country but pointed out that four States, mainly Bihar (16.7%), West Bengal (15.2%),
Uttar Pradesh (12.5%), and Maharashtra
(8.2%) accounted for more than half of the total headcount burden of child marriages in girls.

RECENT RESEARCH

The Lancet paper titled ‘Prevalence of girl and boy child marriage across States
and Union Territories in India, 1993–2021: a repeated cross sectional study’
highlights that one in five girls are still married below legal age in India.

“The largest absolute increase in headcount was observed in West Bengal, representing an increase of 32.3%
in headcount...West Bengal saw the largest absolute increase with over 5,00,000 more girls getting married as
children,” the paper said.

While child marriage is considered a human rights violation and a recognised form of sexual and gender-
based violence, the adverse impact of child marriage is manifested across maternal and child
health in the State. Days before the Lancet study was published, 10 infants died at Murshidabad
Medical College and Hospital in a span of 24 hours.

Researchers like Mr. Ahamed point out that surprisingly there is no direct correction between literacy rate and
child marriage. Despite high literacy, the incidence of child marriage is also disproportionately high
in some districts.

In 2022, the West Bengal government called for a district action plan to curb
child marriage and issued necessary guidelines. However, in the absence of a social
campaign involving all stakeholders including panchayats, schools and local
communities and without a political will to enforce the existing laws the situation
at the grass roots will not improve as rapidly as it has in other parts of the country.

There are many movies like ‘Balika Vadhu’, documentaries like ‘Geeta’, serials like ‘Balika Vadhu’, ‘Mayi
Ri’ etc which depicts the stereotypes related to child marriage and its adverse effect. To explore this issue, I
have picked up “Mayi Ri” serial which depicts the child marriage.

SERIAL- “Mayi Ri”

Mayi Ri is an exceptionally written drama whose story highlights the rotten fabric of society. Child marriage is
an issue that is prevalent in our society and Mayi Ri depicts it beautifully.

Annie is a 15-year-old cheerful schoolgirl who is forced to get married to her underage cousin because of her
uncle’s will. As the drama progresses, it shows the dangerous consequences of child marriages that can destroy
innocent childhoods forever.

REASONS WHICH MAKES CHILD MARRIAGE EFFECTIVE IN INDIA

ARE:

Patriarchal ideals: The primary cause of early marriage is the fervent desire to maintain a girl’s virginity in
order to retain the family’s honour. A girl’s prized possessions are her virginity and chastity. Because of the
excessive value placed on virginity, society has developed a variety of strategies and protective measures to
shield females from potential sexual abuse, including early marriage and isolating them from social activity.

Regressive customs and religious norms: Governments are frequently unable to implement current laws or
address inconsistencies between the national law on marriage age and ingrained customs and religious norms.
The official acceptance of cultural, sociological, and customary norms that influence and direct the institution
of marriage and family life is the reason for this. Girls are married off before they reach puberty in certain
Indian villages where child marriage is common due to the stigma that the culture attaches to marriage after
puberty.

Poverty: Poor families struggle to provide for everyone in the household, thus they would prefer to “send off”
their daughter as soon as possible to another family.

Lack of education: Inadequate educational possibilities for females, particularly in rural regions, increase a
girl child’s vulnerability to being married off at a young age. A lack of education also diminishes the ability
of girls to reject marriage and pursue alternate objectives.
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act contains a loophole that permits child marriages to continue when the
girl reaches the age of 18, even if it does not make them unlawful. In many instances, authorities don’t take
action against people responsible for marrying off youngsters since there is a window of opportunity for the
girl’s agreement.

Fake certificates of age: Through manipulation, fraudulent birth certificates are frequently obtained.
Additionally, panchayats can play a questionable role in the marriage of children by issuing panchnamas with
fictitious dates of birth.