Context: Reports suggest that more child marriages have been noticed during the Covid pandemic. However, data from the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS4) in 2015-16 shows that even before Covid, one in four girls in India was being married before 18. 

• In this article we will discuss factors responsible for this, consequences, policy interventions and way forward.

Indian Stats

• According to estimates, India contributes 33% of the total number of child brides in the world, with nearly 103 million Indians getting married before they turn 18.
• UNICEF estimates that 27% of girls i.e. nearly 1.5 million girls get married before they turn 18. This is better than 47%, a decade ago.
• Murshidabad in West Bengal has the maximum prevalence rate of 39.9%, followed by Gandhinagar in Gujarat (39.3%) and Bhilwara in Rajasthan (36.4%).
• Bihar has the maximum number of high prevalence districts (20).
• More than one out of four married teenage girls in the 15-19 age group become mothers in India.
• States like Goa (64%), Mizoram (61%), and Meghalaya (53%) have the highest prevalence of teenage pregnancy among girls married early.
• Highest Prevalence of Child Marriage is reported among ST girls (15%) followed by girls from SC (13%)
• In other cases, Maharashtra has the highest percentage of girl child marriage.
• However, Prevalence of marriage in India among 15-19-year-old girls declined in a decade between 2005-06 and 2015-16.

Reasons behind the prevalence of child marriage

1. Domestic work and care performed by women, 
2. A belief that girls need to marry early for their safety and protection, 
3. Apprehensions about the risk to family honour or economic burden.

Consequences of child marriage

• Violation of human rights: Child marriage violates girls’ human rights. It makes them almost invisible to policy.
• Impact on education and health: It cuts short their education, harms their health, and limits their ability to fulfil themselves as productive individuals participating fully in society.

The low domestic status of teenage wives typically condemns them to long hours of domestic labour; poor nutrition and anaemia; social isolation; domestic violence; early childbearing; and few decision-making powers within the home.

• Malnutrition: Poor education, malnutrition, and early pregnancy lead to low birth weight of babies, perpetuating the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition.

The costs of child marriage include teenage pregnancy, population growth, child stunting, poor learning outcomes for children and the loss of women’s participation in the workforce.
Key hurdles in stopping child marriages

• Patriarchal mindset 
• One size fits all approach: Although the government introduced various schemes like Conditional Cash Transfers, all failed to show the desired result.

Policy interventions to end child marriage

• CCTs: Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) have been the main policy instrument introduced by most states in the last two decades to end child marriage. CCTs alone cannot change social norms. We need a comprehensive approach.
• Legislative measures: Legislation is one part of the approach like Karnataka amended the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act in 2017, declaring every child marriageb, making it a cognisable offence.
• Government actions driving social change: Field bureaucrats across multiple departments, including teachers, anganwadi supervisors, panchayat and revenue staff, all of whom interact with rural communities, should be notified as child marriage prohibition officers.
• Introduce various reforms: Like the expansion of secondary education, access to safe and affordable public transport, and support for young women to apply their education to earn a livelihood.
• Education: Teachers should hold regular gender equality conversations with high school girls and boys to shape progressive attitudes that will sustain them into adulthood.
• Community engagement: through programmes like Mahila Samakhya.
• Involvement of various stakeholders: Bureaucrats across multiple departments, teachers, Anganwadi supervisors, panchayat and others interacting with rural communities, should be notified as child marriage prohibition officers.
• Decentralized approach: Decentralising birth and marriage registration to gram panchayats will protect women and girls with essential age and marriage documents, thus better enabling them to claim their rights.

Road Ahead

• If the world continues to move at current pace, over 150 million additional girls will get married before their 18th birthday, by 2030. So to end the malpractice of child marriage by 2030 i.e. to achieve the target set out in SDGs, progress must be significantly accelerated.
• People need to be made aware of the various socio-economic impacts of child marriage on regular basis, to prevent it completely. Strict implementation of laws and making education mandatory up to the age of 18 years can also help in preventing child marriages.