END OF INNOCENCE
Child are
always full of joy, hopes and innocence but what if these qualities of a child
are replaced by tears, hunger, poverty, betrayal, and fear. It is the evil face of child marriage. At the age when child play with their toys they are burned with lots of responsibilities on their shoulder.
Though Child
marriage is a very old topic for discussion but it would have been a history
for discussion if the child marriage act would have been followed properly
keeping politics apart from it. I am again focusing on the child marriage
problem followed by the refusal by the Indian Government to co-sponsor the
first ever global resolution for elimination and prevention of forced child
marriages at the United Nations General Assembly last week, it has raised questions
over the political responsibility and pledge to end this problem that has been
a great threat in the path of development growth of the country and increase in
inequality in gender. The resolution was supported by a cross-regional group
over 107 countries with high rates of child marriages. The resolution drifted
by the UN Human Rights council emphasized the need to include child, early and
forced child marriage in post 2015 international development agenda and recognize
the indigenous impact of early marriage on the economic, health, legal and
social status of a women and girls as well as the development of a community as
a whole.
India has
the record of having significantly high rates of child marriage with 24 million
child brides representing 40% of the world’s 60 million child brides. Comparatively
more girls are forced into a child marriage than boys and this led to various
negative effects on young girls. According to the prohibition of Child Marriage
Act, 2006, marriage before 18 is illegal in India but still despite of all rules
it is being practiced widely in the name of tradition and measures for the
safety of girls. The reason behind child marriage in India is the economic
condition, castesism and many take it as a preventive measure for protecting
girls from rape. Very often parents marry their young girls due to their bad
economic condition as they cannot send them to schools, and to prevent their
girls from marrying outside the cast without knowing the ill effects of it.
Marrying the young girls before their right age leads to various serious
problems as they are not physically and psychologically mature enough to handle
and understand it, also it arises domestic violence, sexual abuse, sexually
transmitted diseases and slavery. Early marriages give rise to early
pregnancies and frequent abortions and this can risk the life of the mother as
well as child too. It also raises the rate of maternal and infant mortality
rates along with various sexual diseases like HIV-AIDS. Child marriage risks
the well being of girls by imposing and forcing them for sex and this lead to
sexual violence and later unplanned and frequent pregnancies. As the girls are
married in an early age they are deprived from education, abandoned from
society and face a lifetime economic dependence. Due to these problems many
girls are sexually abused and raped by the men in the new family. Taking an
example in “yemen” in September a young girl 8 years old married to a man aged
4o years and she was raped by his husband in her wedding night.
Now the
question is that even after knowing all these facts why government denied for
this step which could have later proved it as a major step to control the child
marriages in the country. Some communities like Khap panchayats and Muslim
organization opposes the law and favors the child marriage as a preventive for
rape. With child marriages many human rights are violated but government keep
silent as usual. It seems that the government indicates that they are welcoming
the child marriage with open heart. Khap panchayat which nowhere exists in the
constitution but still running and favors the most to child marriage but
government has not taken any kind of action against it. Politics is always
involved everywhere in India and laws are not enough to control it until government
breaks it silence over senseless and silly demands of some groups and
communities.
“A Childs
should call “mother” but a child should not to be called mother”- slogan by CWC
(The concerned for Working Children).
This is the map showing age of marriages in different states of India.
Sonalika
India has
the record of having significantly high rates of child marriage with 24 million
child brides representing 40% of the world’s 60 million child brides. Comparatively
more girls are forced into a child marriage than boys and this led to various
negative effects on young girls. According to the prohibition of Child Marriage
Act, 2006, marriage before 18 is illegal in India but still despite of all rules
it is being practiced widely in the name of tradition and measures for the
safety of girls. The reason behind child marriage in India is the economic
condition, castesism and many take it as a preventive measure for protecting
girls from rape. Very often parents marry their young girls due to their bad
economic condition as they cannot send them to schools, and to prevent their
girls from marrying outside the cast without knowing the ill effects of it.
Marrying the young girls before their right age leads to various serious
problems as they are not physically and psychologically mature enough to handle
and understand it, also it arises domestic violence, sexual abuse, sexually
transmitted diseases and slavery. Early marriages give rise to early
pregnancies and frequent abortions and this can risk the life of the mother as
well as child too. It also raises the rate of maternal and infant mortality
rates along with various sexual diseases like HIV-AIDS. Child marriage risks
the well being of girls by imposing and forcing them for sex and this lead to
sexual violence and later unplanned and frequent pregnancies. As the girls are
married in an early age they are deprived from education, abandoned from
society and face a lifetime economic dependence. Due to these problems many
girls are sexually abused and raped by the men in the new family. Taking an
example in “yemen” in September a young girl 8 years old married to a man aged
4o years and she was raped by his husband in her wedding night.
“A Childs
should call “mother” but a child should not to be called mother”- slogan by CWC
(The concerned for Working Children).
This is the map showing age of marriages in different states of India.





