Question

What laws and programs have been shown to reduce the percentage of women who marry before age 18? Provide a detailed discussion of the social environments in which early marriage is common, and describe how effective programs have operated in such environments.

Answer 1

UNICEF defines child marriage as a formal marriage or informal union before 18 years of age.UN Women has proposed that child marriage be defined as a forced marriage because they believe children under age 18 are incapable of giving a legally valid consent.Child marriages were prevalent in India.

Laws to reduce child marriage we're:

The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929T,he Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006A,Applicability, Legal action on legal confusion,Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW).

The social environment drivers for child marriage were:

In many communities girls are seen as an economic burden and marriage transfers the responsibility to her new husband. Poverty and marriage expenses such as dowry may lead a family to marry off their daughter at a young age to reduce these costs.

Patriarchy, class and caste influence the norms and expectations around the role of women and girls in India. In many communities restrictive norms limit girls to the role of daughter, wife and mother who are first seen as the property of her father and then of her husband.

Controlling girls and women’s sexuality is an influential factor in the practice of child marriage too. Pressure towards early marriage aims to minimise the dishonour associated with improper female sexual conduct, often leading to marriages arranged around the time of puberty.

Poor educational opportunities for girls, especially in rural areas, also increase girls’ vulnerability to child marriage.

The Government has used cash incentives (such as the Dhan Laxmi scheme and the Apni beti apna dhun programme), adolescents’ empowerment programmes (Kishori Shakti Yojana) and awareness-raising to induce behaviour change.

India is a member of the South Asian Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC), UNFPA and UNICEF's global program to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage.