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Activists Say Increasing Minimum Marriage Age of Girls Won’t Help Their Vulnerability
Former NCW member and lawyer Charu Walikhanna, says that the increase in age of marriage for the girls will “bring about gender parity in the age of marriage” since the present legal age of marriage for men is 21 years.
From the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, the Prime Minister raised the issue of increasing the minimum age for marriage of women, months after the task force to consider the issue was notified by the government.
“We have set up a committee to reconsider the correct age of marriage of girls. A decision will be taken once the report comes,” said the PM on Saturday. The discussion on possibly raising the minimum age of marriage has been under consideration for a long time.
On June 4 this year, the Center had notified the 10-member task force, headed by Member of Parliament Jaya Jaitley and Niti Aayog Member Vinod Paul to “examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio, improvement of nutritional levels and related issues.”
Data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Sample Registration System of the Registrar General of India, earlier this year had indicated that the country has seen a progressive decline in the Maternal Mortality rate.
The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined to 113 in year 2016-18 from 122 in year 2015-17, and 130 in 2014-2016, according to the special bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2016-18, released by the Office of the Registrar General’s Sample Registration System (SRS).
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her Budget Speech for 2020-21 in Parliament had announced the task force, pointing out that factors like change in education, healthcare and maternal mortality have to be considered.
This task force had been given time till July 31 to finalise its recommendations, which would then be sent to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and the Ministry of Social Justice for further action.
However, with the New Education Policy that was issued by the government, sources say that the Committee is “reworking” its report, which would likely be submitted by mid- September.
In the meantime, the consultation process has seen several inputs coming in from NGOs and activists, arguing against the increase in age.
Lalitha Kumaramangalam, former NCW Chairperson and BJP member, says that the Committee is “not just looking at increasing the age of marriage” but also the support needed to protect them from social pressure.
“Even though the minimum age of marriage is 18 years, you will find that socially in the more backward villages and even in some cities, girls are being married off as soon as they attain menarche, which is 12,13,14 years. This is because the societal opinion is that if a girl cannot be educated or we cannot send her to work, then she is a burden” said Kumaramangalam.
“Increase in age, if that is what they will recommend, is not the only thing. What is needed is information, education and communication. We have to ensure that girls are sent to school. Due to lack of money, and the amount of unpaid work women do, the girls are the first to be pulled out of school. The committee has to look at facilitating the whole process, to ensure that girls are not forced into marriage..” she said, adding that, “What we need to do is make sure the laws are not flouted and customs change.”
Former NCW member and lawyer Charu Walikhanna, however, says that the increase in age of marriage for the girls will “bring about gender parity in the age of marriage” since the present legal age of marriage for men is 21 years.
“It is a laudable step. Reports show that every 20 minutes a mother is dying of childbirth and pregnancy. India has the highest Maternal Mortality Rate. It’s a very distressing figure. Raising the age of marriage will not only protect the child from social pressure to get married as soon as they attain puberty, but it will also help in the prevention of trafficking.”
Walikhanna and other activists also point out that the Child Marriage Prevention Officers, appointed under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, have remained “an eyewash”.
“The child marriage needs to be made null and void ab initio. The law now says that either the woman or the man needs to go to court to get the marriage nullified. Do you think they have the capacity to go to court?” says Walikhanna.
“Let us not indulge in mere homilies. Section 11 says anyone who promotes child marriage should be punished. That includes the parents and the priests. Some parents should be punished, that may have an effect” says Walikhanna.
The National Coalition Advocating for Adolescent Concerns- an umbrella body of several NGOs in India, sent a detailed report to the task force, opposing the increase in age. Pointing out “deeper concerns” of poverty, reproductive health and awareness, the NCAAC has argued that “interventions aimed solely at delaying the age of marriage will have no effect.”
Bharti Ali of Haq Center for Child Rights also pointed out that there is lack of awareness of reproductive health among young persons, and even the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) launched by the Health Ministry in 2014 for educating adolescent children “is not rigorously implemented,”
“Particularly because the POCSO act makes it mandatory to report and conduct criminal prosecution of any sexual activity. Minors and children are therefore unable to raise their concerns or get information and help, for fear of prosecution..” says Ali.
The NCAAC has also cited the National Family Health Survey conducted by the International Institute of Population Science in 2015-16 to show that early marriage is not the most important reason for girls dropping out of school.
According to the survey, girls in the age group of 6-14 years provided the following reasons for discontinuing their education:
- 8 % stated a lack of interest in studies;
- 3 % reported the high cost of education;
- 5 % attributed the burden of unpaid household work;
- Only 7.9 % reported marriage as a reason for dropping out of school.
“Child marriage is more a consequence of girls dropping out of school rather than the cause..” says Madhu Mehra of Partners for Law in Development (PLD).
The NCAAC report cites various studies including by National Law School Bangalore and UNICEF, to show that most of the cases brought to courts between 2008-2017 to nullify marriages of minors, were filed by parents of girls who had eloped.
“About 65% of the cases involve parents using the law against self-arranged marriages by their daughters, and the remaining 35% of the cases are parents seeking to nullify daughters’ marriages which break down on account of dowry or domestic abuse, or by boys seeking to nullify marriages that have broken down,” according to the studies.
Activists and NGOs have argued that the age of marriage should not be increased, as it would “make the girls more vulnerable”. At the same time, there is a growing chorus to ensure better access to education and economic independence.
“Marriage is not a choice for girls in India. It is a compulsory institution,” says Mehra.
“We have used government data to show that malnutrition and maternal morbidities are not related to the age of marriage, they are related to poverty. Even if you get married at 21 you will still be malnourished..” she says.
“Change in age of marriage is merely changing the goalposts,” says Mehra.
“18 is the universal age of adulthood. If the person can vote, own a business, sign a contract, the government cannot tell them not to marry the objective has to be how to empower girls” says Mehra.
Source: India Today