Child Marriage Prohibition Act openly flouted, as the practice continues unabated

Study by Centre for Social Research analyses the incidence and prevalence of child marriage in Rajasthan, U.P. and M.P

New Delhi, February 1, 2008: Even though the Supreme Court has come up with a directive for compulsory registration of marriages, the practice is still not a norm but an exception. And it certainly has not helped in checking the high incidences of child marriage in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Enforcement of the Child Marriage Prohibition Act continues to be a major problem. The proportion of people whose caste/community still practices child marriage is 41% in Rajasthan. Uttar Pradesh stands at 10% and Madhya Pradesh at the highest of 77.2%, as per a recent study conducted by the Centre for Social Research (CSR). The project was supported by the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), which aimed at assessing the prevalence and incidences of child marriage, with respect to the girl child, in the three selected states. (The study areas included Jaipur & Tonk in Rajasthan, Shajapur & Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Varanasi & Meerut in Uttar Pradesh)

Regarding the awareness about the Marriage Registration Act, most of the people interviewed in the study villages of Rajasthan, showed some awareness. But in UP and MP most of the people are not aware about it. In practice, a very small percentage of people get their marriages registered.

“Child marriages contribute to virtually every social problem that keeps India behind in women’s rights. Unless enforcement issues are addressed effectively and awareness regarding existing legal mechanisms are created, problems like soaring birth rates, grinding poverty and malnutrition, high illiteracy and infant mortality, and low life expectancy, will continue,” says Dr Ranjana Kumari, Director, Centre for Social Research.

As far as awareness about the illegality of child marriages is concerned, respondents in the state of U.P. showed only 12% were aware of this fact. In contrast, most of the people in Rajasthan (74% in Tonk & 98% in Jaipur district) were aware about the illegality of child marriage. Also in M.P, 71.2% of respondents were aware about the illegality of the issue. More respondents in Shajapur (80%) were aware of the illegality than in Bhopal (62.4%).

Poverty/economic compulsions, community practices, and family traditions have emerged as the major causes for continuation of this practice in all the study states. In Rajasthan, poverty/economic burden (60.2% of respondents) was the main cause to agree on child marriage practice. Safety of the girl child, customs, beliefs and community pressure are also considered as contributing factors towards the continuation of the practice of child marriage. In U.P. family tradition (54%) was the major reason for the prevalence of child marriage, followed by poverty/economic burden (50%) in this illegal practice. In M.P. 71.6% of the respondents attributed the existence of child marriage in the state to the strong customs, beliefs and old family traditions.

The consequences of child marriage can have extreme manifestations on the entire life cycle of a woman. Nearly 45 % of all maternal deaths occur among women of age less than twenty four years and that 15 percent of these deaths can be attributed to complications associated with child birth and pregnancy. According to a recent Maternal Mortality report compiled by the WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, and the World Bank, the Maternal Mortality Ratio in India is as high as 450 deaths per 100, 000 live births.

Recent data from NFHS-3, 2005-06 shows that a total of 57.1% w omen aged 20-24 years were married by age 18 in Rajasthan. The urban-rural divide indicates 35.8% and 65.7% respectively. Moreover, the recent NFHS-3 reports for UP indicates that 53% women aged 20-24 years were married by age 18. In the urban area 30.0% were married by 18 years and 61.1% in rural. Even Madhya Pradesh (MP) has a high incidence of child marriage cases: 53% women aged 20-24 years were married by age 18 in MP, with 31.1% in the urban setting and 62.0% in the rural areas (NFHS-3).

The following recommendations have been suggested by CSR to check the prevalence of child marriage in India:

• Awareness generation: All stakeholders, including parents, relatives, panchayat members, the police, NGOs, social workers, district magistrates, etc, should be sensitized and convinced about the negative impact of child marriage on children and about protecting the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and young women

• Checking loopholes in the Law: Rectifying the loopholes in the law is a significant way to control child marriages. In the study, NGO personnels interviewed in MP and UP believe that there are loopholes in the law against child marriages. Thus such loopholes must be corrected to strengthen the document against those who break the law

• Stringency of Punishment: Under the “Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006’ whoever performs a child marriage is punishable with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to two years or with fine which may extend to 1 Lakh rupees or with both. In the present scenario, though a lot of people interviewed were aware about the law against child marriages but due to the lack of enforcement and political will they continue to follow the practice. Only when the law is made strict and strong actions are taken against those who continue to practice child marriage the menace can be tackled

• Appointment of Child Marriage Prevention Officers (CMPOs): All police officials interviewed in UP, MP and Rajasthan said that CMPOs are present in the state but despite that child marriages are still continuing. At the enforcement level, the police working in the thanas need to have the will for enforcing the law against child marriage. CMPOs need to be appointed or if present they need to be trained to be vigilant an take strict actions against the culprits

• Set-up of special cells: In the district level, special cells must be set up which will work specially on cases of child marriages. Special cells should be set up in the study states and states with high prevalence of child marriages. Keeping a check on the marriages taking place in the villages may bring down the number of child marriages in the area

• Registration of marriages: Considering the widespread realities in the 3 study states, the provision of registration need to be implemented in a simple and user friendly manner. Registration facilities should be provided at the lowest rung of our administrative structures in the rural areas and in the urban slum dwellings

• Security to girls and boys: A safety net must be created for girls and young women who escape a forced and often violent marriage. Few case studies in the study revealed that the children were forced into marrying early. In such cases, the girls and even boys should be given security by the CMPOs and police of the district so that no harm is done to these children by their own family members

For more information, please contact:

Shreshtha Kumar, Kasturi Nath

Communicators India

Ph: 46082436

M: 9873077438, 9811847985