Child marriage.

Introduction:

Child marriage is considered as one of the burning and hot issues of Indian society. It refers to a social phenomenon practised in some societies in India, where a young girl (below the age of fifteen) is married to an adult man. One another form of practice of child marriage is that in which the parents of the would be bride and groom arrange a future marriage. In this kind of marriage both, the girl and the boy do not meet each other until they reach the marriageable age. Child marriage constitutes a gross violation of human rights, leaving physical, psychological and emotional scars for life. Usually sexual activities starts soon after marriage, and pregnancy and childbirth at an early age can lead to maternal as well as infant mortality. Moreover, girls and women who marry at a younger age are more likely to experience domestic violence within their matrimonial home.

There are many factors which are considered to be the reasons for the prevalence of child marriages. Some of them are Gender inequality, social norms, perceived low status of girls, poverty, lack of education, safety concerns about girl children and control over sexuality. Several states of India have introduced incentives to delay marriages. For example, the state of Haryana introduced the program named as “Apni Beti, Apna Dhan” in the year 1994, which states “My Daughter, My Wealth”. It is a conditional cash transfer program which is dedicated to delay young marriages by providing a government paid bond in her name and the amount of Rs.25, 000 in her account only on the condition that she is not married on her 18th birthday. As per Indian laws, the marriageable age is 21 years for males and 18 years for females.

Origin of Child Marriage in India:

It is believed that the origin of child marriages is from the time of Muslim Invasions that began more than 1,000 years ago. Invaders used to rape unmarried Hindu girls or kidnap them forever which lead the Hindu community to marry off their daughters at an early age or even from their birth to protect them.

During the ruling time of Delhi Sultanate, political atmosphere was turbulent and ruled by Muslim Sultans in an absolute monarchy government. During this period the Sultans produced the practices of child marriage and considered the status of women very lower.

According to Dharmasutras, they state that a girl should be married after she has attained the age of puberty. According to Manusmriti, a father is considered to have done wrong to her daughter if he fails to marry her before she attains the age of puberty and if the girl is not married within 3 years of reaching puberty, she herself can search for a husband. According to Medhatithi’s Bhashya, it states that the right age of a girl to marry is eight; this same thing can also be deduced from Manusmriti. According to the Tolkappiyam, it states that a boy should marry before he reaches the age of sixteen years and a girl should marry before she reaches the age of twelve years.

In some parts of India, the existence of personal laws is also a main reason for child marriages.

Facts and figures about Child Marriages in India.

In India, It is estimated that there are over 24 million child brides. According to the National Family Health Survey, 40% of the World’s 60 million child marriages take place in India. According to the International Center for Research on Women, India has the 14 highest rates of child marriages in the world.

Indian marriage system varies by region, caste and tribe. Child marriage rates are lower in South-East India and higher in the North-West region of the country. Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the states with the highest rates of child marriage. As per District-Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS), which was recently conducted for Health Ministry, Bihar was reported as worst state for child marriages where nearly 70% of women are married in their early twenties having been married by the age of 18 years; the best state is considered as Himachal Pradesh with marriage rate of 9%. Over the past 15 years, Child marriage has declined by just 11% – less than one percent per year. The Annual Healthy Survey carried out in 2011, shows a more rapid decline in nine surveyed states.

Reasons responsible for Child Marriages

The discrimination against women begins from womb and ends with tomb. The discrimination reflects in their education, family, socio political spheres, employment and work place. The child marriage system is also a reflection of these discriminations against women. There are many factors which are responsible for child marriages.

Effects of Child Marriage.

Early Pregnancy-Health complications

Child marriages usually lead to an early pregnancy which results in many health complications. Without having the proper knowledge about the sexual activities and bodily changes which occur during puberty she cannot cope with changes in her during pregnancy. Today even elderly women too are not in the position to guide her properly. In the olden days elderly women used to monitor the situation perfectly during pregnancy, during delivery and during post-delivery. But nowadays elderly women neither have knowledge as did women in olden days nor have the positive attitude to approach proper medical people.

Fall in High Fertility Age Group

When a girl is married at an early age, she normally tends to have more children and unwanted pregnancy. Lack of access to modern medical facilities to avoid or postpone pregnancy, women are forced to have pregnancy and carry the child.

Inabilities to Plan or Manage Families

Young girls exercise less influence and control over their children and have less ability to make decisions about their nutrition, health care and household management.

Effect on sexual health of young girls

Young girls use to face considerable physical pain associated with sexual intercourse as a result of the physiological immaturity of their sexual organs. Complications due to pregnancy at a young age frequently include perforation of the bladder or bowel, due to prolonged labor and HIV AIDS etc.

Desire for Male Child

Due to desire for a male child, young girls and women are forced to conceive as many times as she can till she gives birth to a male child.

High difference in age between bride and bridegroom

Generally there is a lot of age difference between the bride and the bride groom. In most of the child marriages it is the bride who is a child and not the bride groom. When the bride is child she naturally does not have any freedom to express her opinions on any of family life and she has to blindly obey the orders of her husband.

Laws against the Child Marriage in India.

The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929

The Child Marriage Restraint Act, which is also known as Sarda Act, was a law enacted to restrain the practices of Child Marriage. Its main goal was to eliminate the evils placed on young girls who could not handle the stress of married life and to avoid early deaths. This act defined a male child as 21 years or younger and a female child as 18 years or younger which was 18 years and 14 years earlier respectively, and a minor as a child of either sex as 18 years or younger which was 14 years originally. The punishments prescribed for a male to member between the age gaps of 18 to 21 was imprisonment of 15 days or fine of Rs.1, 000 or both. The punishment prescribed for a parent or guardian of a child taking place in the child marriage was imprisonment of up to three months or a possible fine.

The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006

Under this act, the marriageable age for a male is prescribed as 21 years and that of a female is 18 years. A decree of nullity can be obtained by a girl who has entered into a child marriage within 2 years of attaining the age of 18 years.

Hindu Marriage Act, 1956

Under Hindu Marriage Act, there are no certain provisions for punishing the parents or people who solemnized the marriage. A girl can get the marriage annulled only if she wants to get married before attaining the age of fifteen years and she challenges the marriage before turning eighteen.

Muslim Personal Law

Muslim law’s provisions are based on the interpretation of Quran by scholars. Under the Muslim Laws, there is no bar to child marriage. The couple after marriage has an “option of puberty” known as Khayar-ul-bulugh in which they can repudiate the marriage after attaining the age of puberty. However they can only do this if they are under eighteen years of age and the marriage has not been consummated. The age of marriage under Muslim law is the age of puberty which is 15 years.

Suggestions.

There are certain suggestions which can be adopted in order to lessen child marriages:

• Develop strong support systems to keep girls in school. Provide scholarships where necessary and encourage teachers to support girls.
• Strengthen and establish community networks and partnerships involving girls clubs, teachers, elders, local government officials, women and youth groups, community and religious leaders, etc. that jointly work towards ending early marriage.
• Strengthen the role of the judicial system particularly the police, judges, and persecutors through training on enforcement of the law against early marriage.
• Efforts should be made to give-up the factors motivating child marriages, all efforts should aim at changing the gender biased attitudes of parents and society by imparting proper education on one hand and eradicating poverty on the other.

     

• Conclusion

  Child Marriages are considered as one of the social menace that cannot be curbed easily without the support of the society. There have been demands to make child marriages void ab initio under the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act since a long time, but Indian society is complicated and complex and making child marriages void will only jeopardize the rights of women who are the victims of child marriage. Many a times the parents of the girl child forcibly marries their daughters to some elder man so that that person can give some money to the girl’s family and from that money their financial condition can turn better.

  Also from the above discussion, it can be concluded that in early marriages, the girl child’s reproductive and sexual health is affected the most. The child brides suffer from high rates of obstetric complications, pregnancy induced hypertension, higher mortality rates, premature delivery, high incidence of miscarriages and stillbirths. The risks of early marriage are not just limited to the girl child alone, but also to the child that is born out of that marriage as a result of an early pregnancy. The infant mortality rates are also high along with incidences of premature delivery and low birth weight of the newborn child.

  There is tremendous pressure on young wives to bear a child. Early sexual activities also expose adolescents to a greater risk of contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) including HIV AIDS. Early marriage and pregnancy is one of the major cases of maternal mortality in India.