Child Marriage: Progress and Challenges

Exam-Focused Notes on Child Marriage in India

Government Initiatives and Campaigns:

• Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat Abhiyan: Launched as part of the commitment to the UN to end child marriage by 2030. The first anniversary was marked with a 100-day awareness campaign.
• UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Goal 5 aims for gender equality and empowerment of women; Target 5.3 specifically addresses elimination of harmful practices like child marriage and forced marriages.
• Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012: Supports the prevention of child marriage.
• Prevention of Child Marriage Act, 2006: National child marriage rates have halved since its implementation.

Statistical Insights:

• UNICEF estimated that 640 million girls globally were married in childhood, with a third in India (approximately 213 million).
• Child marriage rates in India dropped from 47.4% in 2005-06 to 26.8% in 2015-16 but only to 23.3% by 2019-21.
• Significant state disparities: Highest rates in West Bengal (42%), Bihar (40%), Tripura (39%); lowest in Lakshadweep (4%), Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh (6%).
• Education and wealth disparities: 48% of uneducated girls married below 18 compared to 4% of those with higher education; 40% from the lowest wealth quintile vs. 8% from the highest.

Judicial and Legislative Context:

• The proposed Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill seeks to raise the minimum age of marriage for women to 21 years, aligning it with men's age.
• Ongoing debates about the implications of legal changes in light of cultural practices and potential criminalization of communities.

Government Schemes Related to Education and Empowerment:

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: Aims to improve the child sex ratio through educational empowerment for girls, though implementation varies.
• Laadli Scheme: Provides financial support to families with girl children from birth.
• Kanyashree Scheme (West Bengal): Offers ₹1,000 annually for girls aged 13-18 and a one-time ₹25,000 grant for pursuing higher education.
• Rupashree Scheme: Provides ₹25,000 at a daughter's marriage (conditional on the woman being 18 years or older), raising concerns of mixed messaging.

Progress and Challenges:

• 54,917 child marriage prevention officers appointed under the program.
• 1,520 child marriage cases prevented in the campaign's first year; however, 198 cases resulted in police reports and complaints.
• Need for societal change alongside legislation to effectively reduce child marriages, especially focusing on girl education to raise the minimum marriage age.

Impact on Other Sustainable Development Goals: Girls Not Brides warns that failure to tackle child marriage will hinder progress on at least nine other SDGs related to poverty, health, education, gender equality, and economic growth.

Conclusion: Progress in combating child marriage in India has been made, but disparities across states and socio-economic backgrounds persist. The effectiveness of legal measures hinges not only on implementation but also on the transformation of societal attitudes towards child marriage and education for girls. Continued monitoring and community engagement are crucial for achieving targets set by international agreements by 2030.