Duina Barbaruah
(The writer can be reached at dwinakashyap@gmail.com)
Amidst startling data compiled under the National Family Health Survey-5 pertaining to the growing incidence of child marriages and the cascading effect on Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate, the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP Government in Assam has decided to launch a statewide crackdown against child marriage beginning February 3.
The decision to launch a massive crackdown against the perpetrators of child marriage was taken at a Cabinet meeting held in Guwahati on January 23.
A total of 4,004 cases have been registered against child marriages across the state and stringent action will be taken as per provisions of the law.
Taking to their Twitter handle, Assam Chief Minister, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "Assam Govt is firm in its resolve to end the menace of child marriage in the state. So far @assampolice has registered 4,004 cases across the state and more police action is likely in days ahead. Action on the cases will begin starting February 3. I request all to cooperate."
According to the NFHS-5 data, 31.8 per cent of women in Assam in the age group of 20-24 years have married before the age of 18 years compared to 23.3 per cent of women in India.
Moreover, 11.7 per cent of women in Assam in the age group of 15-19 years were already mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey (NFHS-5) compared to 6.8 per cent of women in India.
The worrying trend is that in Dhubri, around 50.8 per cent of marriages have taken place in the prohibited age category. Besides 44 per cent of child marriages have been registered in South Salmara; 42 per cent in Darrang and Nagaon respectively; 41 per cent in Goalpara and Bongaigaon respectively; 40 per cent in Barpeta; 39 per cent in Morigaon and 15 per cent in Dima Hasao district. On the other hand, Jorhat and Sivasagar districts in Upper Assam have recorded 24 per cent child marriages, respectively.
Assam has reported about one lakh child marriages so far. According to official estimates, one-fourth (25 per cent) of maternal deaths are of age less than or equal to 20 years.
Attributing child marriages as a prime factor for the death of infants and mothers, the State Cabinet decided that cases would be registered under POCSO Act against persons (adults) marrying girls under 14 years of age. Notably, the POCSO Act of 2012 defines a child as an individual under the age of 18 and it criminalises sex between an under-age child and an adult. The legal age for marriage is 18 years for women and 21 for men.
Further, a two-year sentence (under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006) would be given in regard to a child marriage which takes place between couples aged between 14 years and 18 years and such a marriage would be considered illegal. That is not all. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006 will be used to prosecute men who marry girls between the ages of 14 and 18 and punitive action would be taken against them.
Taking a cue from Karnataka with a good track record in curbing child marriages, the State Government has decided to appoint child marriage prohibition officers under Section 16 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 and the gaon panchayat secretary will have to mandatorily lodge FIRs in police stations if they come across any instance of child marriage.
Earlier, the issue of appointment of child marriage prohibition officers under the said Act since 2006 (when the Act came into effect) has been either ignored or overlooked.
The Government has set its priority to eradicate this menace within the next five years. The Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police have been sensitized on the matter.
Child marriage violates children's rights and places them at high risk of violence, exploitation, and abuse. Child marriage affects both girls and boys, but it affects girls disproportionately.
It is defined as a marriage of a girl or boy before the age of 18 and refers to both formal marriages and informal unions in which children under the age of 18 live with a partner as if married.
Child marriage robs the very essence of childhood itself. It negatively impacts children's rights to education, health and protection. These consequences impact not just the girl directly, but also her family and community as a whole.
A girl who is married as a child is more likely to be out of school and not earn money and contribute to the community. She is more likely to experience domestic violence and become infected with HIV/AIDS. She is more likely to have children when she is still a child. There are more chances of her death due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth.
Estimates suggest that 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 - accounting for a third of the global total. Nearly 16 per cent of adolescent girls aged 15-19 are currently married.
While the prevalence of girls getting married before age 18 has declined from 47 per cent to 27 per cent between 2005-2006 and 2015-2016 it is still too high.
The significant progress in the reduction of child marriages in India has contributed to a large extent to the global decrease in the prevalence of the practice. The decline may be the result of multiple factors such as increased literacy of mothers, better access to education for girls, strong legislation and migration from rural areas to urban centres. Increased rates of girls' education, proactive government investments in adolescent girls, and strong public messaging around the illegality of child marriage and the harm it causes are also among the reasons for the paradigm shift.
Child marriage, a deeply rooted social norm, provides glaring evidence of widespread gender inequality and discrimination. It is the result of the interplay of economic and social forces. In communities where the practice is prevalent, marrying a girl as a child is part of a cluster of social norms and attitudes that reflect the low value according to the human rights of girls.
Child marriage negatively affects the Indian economy and can lead to an intergenerational cycle of poverty.
Girls and boys married as children are more likely to lack the skills, knowledge and job prospects needed to lift their families out of poverty and contribute to their country's social and economic growth. Early marriage leads girls to have children earlier and more children over their lifetime, increasing the economic burden on the household.
As a result of norms assigning lower value to girls, as compared to boys, girls are perceived to have no alternative role other than to get married. And are expected to help with domestic chores and undertake household responsibilities in preparation for their marriage.
Evidence shows that critical game changers for adolescent girls' empowerment include postponing marriage beyond the legal age, improving their health and nutritional status, supporting girls to transition to secondary school, and helping them develop marketable skills so that they can realize their economic potential and transition into healthy, productive and empowered adults.
UNICEF's approach to ending child marriage in India recognises the complex nature of the problem, and the socio-cultural and structural factors underpinning the practice. UNICEF India accomplished its 'scale-up strategy' to prevent child marriage and increase adolescent empowerment by working with government, partners and relevant stakeholders from the national level down to the district level. The most significant development has been the gradual shift from interventions that are small in scope and mainly sector-based to large-scale district models on adolescent empowerment and reduction of child marriage which rely on existing large government programmes.
UNICEF and UNFPA have joined forces through a Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage. The approach is to address child marriage through the entire lifecycle of a child especially by addressing persisting negative social norms which are key drivers for the high prevalence of child marriage in India.
At the global level, child marriage is included in Goal 5 "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls" under Target 5.3 "Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation".
Given the propensity to get children married off at a tender age, the government alone cannot eliminate the malaise of child marriage from society. There is a need to create awareness about the ills of child marriage, which is rampant in the regions inhabited by Bengali-speaking Muslim migrants, especially those on the sandbars, in Lower Assam's Goalpara, Barpeta, Chirang and Dhubri districts.
The parents, who are mostly illiterate and poor, consider daughters a burden on the family and marry them off at an early age. The approach has to be two-pronged: prevent such marriages either by counselling the families or by alerting the police.
The practice of child marriage is also attributed to a lack of education. Many children drop out of school as their poor parents want them to work. There are others who do not study due to a dearth of schools and colleges in their areas and their parents marry them off. Devising strategies in areas such as health, education, child protection, nutrition and water and sanitation and bringing them together to address child marriage in a holistic manner can go a long way in doing away with the menace of child marriage.