Child Marriage

Subject :Polity

What is Child Marriage:

According to Indian laws Child marriage is a marriage where either the woman is below age of 18years or the man is below the age of 21 years.

Some Findings about Child Marriage:

NFHS-5 data of 2019-20 reported an underage marriage to about 23%, which is still a substantial number considering the existing stringent rules.
Further, NFHS-5 data revealed that 7% of girls aged between 15-18 were pregnant.
West Bengal(42%) has the highest prevalence of child marriage followed by Bihar and Tripura (40% each).
According to an estimate by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) , each year at least 1.5 million girls under 18 get married in India, which makes it home to the largest number of child brides in the world.

The Legislative Protection

Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929: It restricts the practice of child marriage.
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006: It was enacted to address and fix the shortcomings of the Child Marriage Restraint Act.The act envisages preventing child marriage with punishments of rigorous imprisonment for two years and/ or fine of Rs. 1 lakh
Special Marriage Act, 1954 and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006: These prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively.
Juvenile Justice Care and Protection Act, 2015: Powers to safeguard the best interests of India’s children. For this purpose, Child Protection Committees, Child Protection Units and CWCs have been formed and are functioning at the district level.

Measures to Prevent Child Marriages

Committee by the Ministry for Women and Child Development: To examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio and the improvement of nutritional levels among women.
District Child Protection Unit : Responsible for identification and rescues children in need of care and protection.
District Child Protection Committee: These are headed by the Chairperson of the Zilla Parishad and are nodal organisations at the district level to review and monitor the work related to ensuring child rights.
Section 16 of the PCMA Act,2006authorises the State Government to appoint an officer or officers to be known as the ‘Child Marriage Prohibition Officers.
The Central Government undertakes awareness drives, media campaigns and outreach programmes from time to time to highlight the various issues about this evil practice.
The Central Government has introduced CHILDLINE with short code 1098, a 24X7 telephone emergency outreach service for children in crisis.
Through the Sabla programme of Women and Child Ministry, adolescent girls in the age group of 11 to 18 years are imparted training with regard to legal rights of women which also includes the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.