child marriages (essay)
Answers
India is surging on its way to become a superpower, but it is a startling reality that an age old evil practice called child marriage still prevails in the country. India has the second highest number of child marriages according to a United Nations report. According to the statistics the State of Bihar has the highest incidence of child marriage at 68% followed by Rajasthan and Jharkhand.
Causes of Child Marriage:
According to the law in India marriageable age is18 years for girls and 21 years for boys. Child marriage in India should be seen as an exploitation of human right. This evil tradition has existed in India for a long time. From the time of the birth of a girl child she was treated as someone else’s property and hence was married at a very tender age. Another social reason to initiate child marriages was that the elders wanted to see the growth of their family with respect to the number of children as it characterized their status. Poor people practiced child marriage to get rid of their loans, taxes, whereas some people instigated it to fetch lump sum dowry.
Impact of Child Marriage:
Child marriage in India imposes huge household responsibilities, especially on innocent girl children who are not mentally and physically prepared for it. Boys who are still minors are forced to bear critical financial responsibilities and the whole family. Child marriage in India snatches the innocent childhood and the freedom to play and learn from these kids. This evil practice incubates a greater risk of contracting sexual diseases like HIV. Girls who get married at a very young age are less likely to be aware about pregnancy and correlated topics. A baby born to such mother is more likely to suffer from ailments like malnutrition.
Prevention of Child Marriages in India:
The Indian Constitution and Law prohibit Child Marriage in India in any shape or form. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 eradicate the flaws in previously present laws. The act strictly prohibits the marriage of a girl under eighteen years of age and a boy below twenty-one years of age. Under this law, the children have the choice to declare their marriage as annulled up to two years of reaching adulthood. Apparently, a major shortcoming of the law is that it doesn’t cover the Muslims, as this law is binding to all citizens of India. A foremost hindrance in curbing the evil practice is that most of these marriages are not registered and are carried out informally.
Conclusion:
Marriage is a sacred union between two mature individuals who are in consensus with each other to share responsibilities and take care of each other for a lifetime. Child Marriages happen to be an illogical institution that has prevailed in the country, despite all the development and growth that the country has witnessed over the time. It needs to be understood that poverty and lack of education are the major factors that undermine the efforts to end this menace. The Government of India and different NGOs’ are working meticulously to spread awareness about child marriage in India. As a responsible citizen of India we must contribute to the fullest to eradicate this evil practise by immediately reporting to the police when one hears of child marriage taking place.
Answer:
Child marriage usually refers to a social phenomena practised in some societies in India , where a young child (usually a girl below the age of fifteen) is married to an adult man. A second form of practice of child marriage is that in which the parents of the two children (the girl and boy) arrange a future marriage. In this practice, the individuals (the boy and girl) do not meet one another until they reach the marriageable age, when the wedding ceremony is performed. As per law, the marriageable age is 21 for males and 18 for females.
Child marriage prevalence is generally defined as the percentage of women 20-24 years old who were married or in union before age 18. India is estimated to have over 24 million child brides. 40% of the world’s 60 million child marriages take place in India according to the National Family Health Survey. India has the 14th highest rate of child marriage in the world, according to the International Center for Research on Women.
Marriage systems and practices vary by region, caste and tribe. Rates of child marriage are higher in the North-West and lower in the South-East of the country. The states with the highest rates of child marriage (50% and above) are Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. But even in low prevalence states there may be pockets of with high rates of child marriage. According to a recent district-level household and facility survey (DLHS), conducted for the Health Ministry, the worst state for child marriage is Bihar, where nearly 70% of women in their early twenties reported having been married by the age of 18; the best is Himachal Pradesh at 9%.
According to DLHS data, around 48% of married women in the 20-24 year age group got married before 18 in rural areas, compared with 29% in urban areas.
Over the past fifteen years, child marriage has declined by just 11 percent – less than one percent per year. The Annual Healthy Survey carried out in 2011, shows a more rapid decline in nine surveyed states.