July 11 as the World Population Day was introduced in 1989 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The day was inspired by the popularity of another event, the Five Billion Day, which was commemorated on July 11, 1987. This year’s theme is ‘Investing in Teenage Girls’.
Teenage girls around the world face enormous challenges. Many are considered by their communities or parents to be ready for marriage and motherhood. Many are forced out from school, damaging their future prospects. Even among girls who stay in school, access to basic information about their health, human rights and reproductive rights can be hard to come by, leaving them vulnerable to illness, injury and exploitation. These challenges are exacerbated among marginalized girls, such as members of ethnic minorities or those living in poverty or remote areas.
Child marriage is a major social concern and a violation of children’s rights. Despite laws against it, the practice remains widespread, in part because of persistent poverty and gender inequality. In developing countries, one in every three girls is married before reaching age 18. One in nine is married under age 15.
In India, rise in the number of child marriages in the recent past has raised serious concern over children’s rights. Owing to poverty, illiteracy and lack of awareness among the parents, the cases are rising. India has the highest number of child brides in the world. It is estimated that 47 per cent of girls in India are married before their 18th birthday. The rates of child marriage vary between States and are as high as 69 per cent and 65 per cent in Bihar and Rajasthan.
The 2011 census reveals that in Odisha 11 per cent girls in the age-group of 15 to 18 years are married. Five per cent girls in the age-group of 15 are married whereas 10 per cent girls in the age group of 17 and 21 per cent girls in the age-group of 18 are married. As per the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)’s data released in 2013, Ganjam district has highest number of child marriages in Odisha with 63 per cent of girls getting married before 18 years. Poor educational opportunities for girls, especially in rural areas, also increase girls’ vulnerability to child marriage. Besides, child marriages have been a regular practice among tribal communities in Odisha for generations.
For protection of the girl child, the Government has used cash incentives (such as the Dhan laxmi scheme and the Apni beti apna dhan programme), adolescents’ empowerment programmes (Kishori Shakti Yojana) and awareness-raising to induce behaviour change. In 2009, the MWCD introduces Dhanalakshmi scheme in selected backward districts of the country, as a conditional cash transfer scheme providing cash to the family of the girl child (preferably the mother) on fulfilling certain conditions for the girl child, such as birth registration, immunisation, enrolment retention in school and delaying the marriage age beyond 18 years. The scheme also included a sub-component for providing insurance cover to the girl child.
The UNFPA is committed to delivering concrete solutions to child marriage, with an emphasis on efforts that can be scaled up and produce measurable results. The UNFPA works with Governments and civil society partners, at all levels, to promote and protect the human rights of girls, including assisting with the development of policies, programmes and legislations to address and curtail the practice of child marriage. Many of these efforts, such as the Action for Adolescent Girls programme and the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage, empower girls to know their human rights, including their right to choose, as adults, whom to marry.
The Constitution of India recognises the vulnerable position of children and their right to protection. Therefore, following the doctrine of protective discrimination, it guarantees in Article 15 special attention to children through necessary and special laws and policies that safeguard their rights. The right to equality, protection of life and personal liberty and the right against exploitation enshrined in Articles 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 23 and 24 further reiterate India’s commitment to the protection, safety, security and well-being of all its people, including the girl child. Article 39 enjoins that the State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing that “children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment”. The Hindu Marriage Act 1955 regulates the marriage among Hindus and according to this law a valid marriage between two Hindus can take place where the bridegroom has completed the age of 21 years and the bride has completed the age of 18 years apart from other condition as provided under the law. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 is an act to provide for the prohibition of solemnization of child marriages and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
India is a member of the South Asian Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC), which adopted a regional action plan to end child marriage. Ending child marriage requires action at many levels. Existing laws against child marriage should be enforced, especially when girls at risk of child marriage, or who are already married, seek protection and justice. Despite the Child Marriage Restraint Act, child marriages continue to take place in some parts of rural India. The main reason for such an evil’s presence is mainly because the Act is not strictly enforced by the respective administration. However, the number of child marriage has been stopped due to the timely intervention of the Social Welfare Department officials. There has been a decline in the incidence of child marriage in nearly all States, but the pace of change remains slow.
(Dr Praharaj works as faculty member in Department of Architecture, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar)