Child marriage

CHILD MARRIAGE IS A CURSE ON SOCIETY

1. CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA BY SAPNA SHARMA

2. CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA Child marriage in India, according to the Indian law, in a marriage where either the woman is below the age of 18 or the man is below the age of 21. Most child marriages involve girls, many of whom are in poor socio-economic conditions .  The Census of India has counted and reported married women by age, with proportion of females in child marriage falling in each 10 year census period since 1981. In its 2001 census report, India stated zero married girls below the age of 10, 1.4 million married girls out of 59.2 million girls aged 10–14, and 11.3 million married girls out of 46.3 million girls aged 15–19 . Several states of India have introduced incentives to delay marriages.

3. DEFINITIONS OF CHILD MARRIAGE

4. INDIA Child marriage is a complex subject under Indian law. It was defined by The Child Marriage Restraint Act in 1929 ,  which set the minimum age of marriage for females to be 14 and males 18. The law was opposed by Muslims of British India by the Muslim Personal Law Application Act of 1937, which implied no minimum limit and allowed parental or guardian consent in case of Muslim marriages . The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006 defines "child marriage" means a marriage, or a marriage about to be solemnized, to which either of the contracting parties is a child; and  child  for purposes of marriage is defined based on gender of the person - if a male, it is 21 years of age, and if a female, 18 years of age .

5. WORLD UNICEF defines child marriage  as a formal marriage or informal union before 18 years of age ,  because it can lead to a lifetime of suffering for girls who are more likely to experience domestic violence or die due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth .  UN Women proposes that child marriage  be defined as a forced marriage because they believe children under age are incapable of giving a legally valid consent .

6. STATISTICS

7. UN AND OTHER ESTIMATES The small sample surveys have different methods of estimating overall child marriages in India. For example, NFHS-3 and NFHS-4 data for 2005 mentioned in below table, used a survey of women aged 20–24, where they were asked if they were married before they were 18 . The NFHS-3 also surveyed older women, up to the age of 49, asking the same question. The survey found that many more 40-49 were married before they turned 18, than 20-24 age women who were interviewed.

8. INDIAN GOVERNMENT ESTIMATE The states with highest observed marriage rates for under-18 girls in 2009, according to a Registrar General of India report, were Jharkhand (14.1%), West Bengal (13.6%), Bihar (9.3%), Uttar Pradesh (8.9%) and Assam (8.8 %).  According to this report, despite sharp reductions in child marriage rates since 1991, still 7% of women passing the age of 18 in India were married as of 2009 According to 2011 nationwide census of India, the average age of marriage for women is 21.2 .  

9. CRITICISM Several activists have expressed scepticism regarding the decline in child marriage cases in India. They believe that 'the UNICEF report might not be reflecting reality on the ground and the numbers are likely not as low as they appear in the report '.   In India, the government ask about the age of bride and groom as a part of census data, which is collected every year. Dhuwarakha Sriram, child protection specialist at UNICEF India, says that "everyone knows that there is underreporting in India - even the UNICEF is aware of it". According to Sriram, people are aware of the illegal age of marriage in India, so they are less likely to tell the truth, which in turn leads to underreporting .

10. LAWS AGAINST CHILD MARRIAGE

11. THE CHILD MARRIAGE RESTRAINT ACT OF 1929 The  Child Marriage Restraint Act, also called the Sarda Act ,  was a law to restrict the practice of child marriage. It was enacted on 1 April 1930, extended across the whole nation, with the exceptions of some princely states like Hyderabad and Jammu and  Kashmir. In 1949, after India's independence, the minimum age was increased to 15 for females, and in 1978, it was increased again for both females and males, to 18 and 21 years, respectively. The punishment for a male between 18 and 21 years marrying a child became imprisonment of up to 15 days, a fine of 1,000  rupees. The punishment for a male above 21 years of age became imprisonment of up to three months and a possible fine.

12. THE PROHIBITION OF CHILD MARRIAGE ACT, 2006 In response to the plea (Writ Petition (C) 212/2003) of the Forum for Fact-finding Documentation and Advocacy at the Supreme Court, the Government of India brought the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) in 2006, and it came into effect on 1 November 2007 to address and fix the shortcomings of the Child Marriage Restraint Act .  The change in name was meant to reflect the prevention and prohibition of child marriage, rather than restraining it .  The previous Act also made it difficult and time consuming to act against child marriages and did not focus on authorities as possible figures for preventing the marriages .  This Act kept the ages of adult males and females the same but made some significant changes to further protect the children.

13. APPLICABILITY Muslim organizations of India have long argued that Indian laws, passed by its parliament, such as the 2006 child marriage law do not apply to Muslims, because marriage is a personal law subject .  The Delhi High Court, as well as other state high courts of India, have disagreed. The Delhi Court, for example, ruled that Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 overrides all personal laws and governs each and every citizen of India.  The ruling stated that an under-age marriage, where either the man or woman is over 16 years old, would not be a void marriage but voidable one, which would become valid if no steps are taken by such court as has option[s] to order otherwise. In case either of the parties is less than 18 years old, the marriage is void, given the age of consent is 18 in India, sex with minors under the age of 18 is a statutory crime under Section 376 of Indian Penal Code .

14. LEGAL ACTION ON LEGAL CONFUSION There is a standing legal confusion as to Marital Rape within prohibited Child Marriages in India. Marital rape per se is not a crime in India; but the position with regard to children is confusing. While the exception under the criminal law (section 375, Indian Penal Code, 1860) applicable to adults puts an exception and allows marital rape of a girl child between the age of 15–18 years by her husband. However this provision of exception has been read down by the Supreme Court of India in the case of Independent Thought v. Union of India in October, 2017 and it declares that sexual intercourse with all wives below 18 years of age shall be considered as rape; another new and progressive legislation Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 disallows any such sexual relationships and puts such crimes with marriages as an aggravated offense.

15. CEDAW The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international bill attempting to end discrimination against women. Article 16, Marriage and Family Life, states that all women, as well as men, have the right to choose their spouse, to have the same responsibilities, and to decide on how many children and the spacing between them. This convention states that child marriage should not have a legal effect, all action must be taken to enforce a minimum age, and that all marriages must be put into an official registry .  India signed the convention on 30 July 1980.

16. CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD MARRIAGE

17. EARLY MATERNAL DEATHS Girls who marry earlier in life are less likely to be informed about reproductive issues, and because of this, pregnancy-related deaths are known to be the leading cause of mortality among married girls between 15 and 19 years of age. These girls are twice more likely to die in childbirth than girls between 20 and 24 years of age. Girls younger than 15 years of age are 5 times more likely to die in childbirth.

18. INFANT HEALTH Infants born to mothers under the age of 18 are 60% more likely to die in their first year than to mothers over the age of 19. If the children survive, they are more likely to suffer from low birth weight, malnutrition, and late physical and cognitive development .

19. FERTILITY OUTCOMES A study conducted in India by the International Institute for Population Sciences and Macro International in 2005 and 2006 showed high fertility, low fertility control, and poor fertility outcomes data within child marriages. 90.8% of young married women reported no use of a contraceptive prior to having their first child. 23.9% reported having a child within the first year of marriage. 17.3% reported having three or more children over the course of the marriage. 23% reported a rapid repeat childbirth, and 15.2% reported an unwanted pregnancy. 15.3% reported a pregnancy termination . 

20. VIOLENCE Young girls in a child marriage are more likely to experience domestic violence in their marriages as opposed to older women. A study conducted in India by the International Centre for Research on Women showed that girls married before 18 years of age are twice as likely to be beaten, slapped, or threatened by their husbands  and three times more likely to experience sexual violence .  Young brides often show symptoms of sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress .

21. PREVENTION PROGRAMMES IN INDIA Apni Beti, Apna Dhan which translates to "My daughter, My wealth," is one of India's first conditional cash transfer programmes dedicated to delaying young marriages across the nation.In1994 , the Indian government implemented this programme in the state of Haryana. On the birth of a mother's first, second, or third child, they are set to receive  500, within the first 15 days to cover their post-delivery needs. Along with this, the government gives   2,500, to invest in a long-term savings bond in the daughter's name, which can be later cashed for   25,000, after her 18 birthday.