The Supreme Court passed a slew of directions to the Centre, states and other authorities to eradicate child marriage.
In a 141-page judgment, a bench of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, stressed on legal enforcement, judicial measures and technology-driven initiatives to prevent child marriages in the country.
The verdict came on a PIL seeking stronger enforcement mechanisms to curb child marriages.
Some of the directions are:
• States and Union Territories were directed to appoint officers solely responsible for discharging the functions of Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPO) at the district level.
• It said to enable personal accountability and ensure immediate preventive measures are taken against any planned solemnisation of child marriages, each state and UT will upload quarterly reports from CMPOs on their official websites.
• The ministries of Women and Child Development and Home in each state and UT were further directed to conduct quarterly performance reviews of CMPOs and law enforcement agencies to assess among others, the effectiveness of child marriage prevention initiatives and response times and outcomes of reported case.
• It fixed the district-level responsibility for prevention of child marriages.
• The top court further ordered the establishment of a specialised police unit to stop child marriages.
• Strict disciplinary and legal action was directed to be taken against any public servant found to be in deliberate neglect of duty concerning child marriage cases.
What is child marriage? What are its driving factors?
• Child marriage is a social evil, and its commission is a criminal offence.
• Child marriage is the phenomenon of children being married before they attain the minimum legal age under the law. Globally, children continue – despite legal norms to the contrary – to be married before they reach the age of 18 years.
• Globally, one in every five girls is formally married or in an informal union, before reaching age 18.
• Section 28 of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) defines child marriage as a marriage to which either of the contracting parties is a child. Girls below the age of 18 and boys below the age of 21 are deemed to be children under the PCMA.
• Patriarchy, gender inequality, poverty and lack of education and employment lead to child marriage.
• Child marriages persist due to societal perceptions and economic pressures. Investment in a girl’s education is frequently regarded as wasteful, leading some families to end schooling early and consider marriage instead. Poverty and structural inequalities, including gender, caste, and class, further drive child marriages.
• Many parents wish to marry their girl child early to guard against any aspersions on the girl’s virtue of virginity and to mitigate the economic costs associated with raising a child, payment of dowry and conducting a wedding.
• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child regards child marriage as a violation of human rights.
• Elimination of child, early and forced marriages has been committed to by 193 nations, including India under target 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• The PCMA was introduced to criminalise the facilitation and solemnisation of child marriage, aiming to deter this harmful practice.
Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA)
• In 1921, the League of Nations held a conference on the trafficking of women and recommended raising the age of consent to 21 years for girls.
• In 1922, Bakshi Sohanlal unsuccessfully tried to raise the age of consent to 14 by introducing a Bill. Bills that sought to raise the age of consent were introduced and thrown out regularly for five years thereafter.
• Among these Bills was an Age of Marriage Bill which was sought to be introduced by Ranglal Jajodia in 1924 in the Legislative Assembly. The Bill prescribed a minimum age before which no marriage could take place. This was a shift from the approach taken by other reformers and legislators of not interfering with the age of marriage but to merely protect girls from forced sex by raising the age of consent in penal laws.
• While this Bill was never introduced, a similar Bill was introduced by Haribilas Sarda in 1927 after another failed attempt to raise the age of consent by Hari Singh Gour.
• The ‘Sarda Bill’ was circulated widely to attract opinions. After much debate, the Sarda Bill was enacted as the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 and received the assent of the Governor-General on October 1, 1929.
• The Act continued to govern the law on the age of marriage till Parliament enacted the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
• The PCMA retained the age of marriage as 21 for males and 18 for females.
• The Act provides for governing parties to a child marriage after its commission, punitive measures against offenders of the Act as well as provisions for the prevention of child marriage.
• The PCMA prescribes punishment for three classes of persons, namely:
i) An adult groom in a child marriage.
ii) Persons involved in the solemnisation of child marriage.
iii) Persons who promote or permit the solemnisation of child marriage.
• The maximum punishment prescribed for all three classes is rigorous imprisonment of two years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
• Unlike many social legislations, the PCMA does not prescribe a mandatory minimum punishment for committing an offence under the Act.
• Section 15 of the PCMA stipulates that all offences under the Act are cognizable and non-bailable.
Declining prevalence of child marriage
• The 2019-2021 National Family Health Survey-5 shows child marriage at 23.3 per cent of girls under the age of 18 and 17.7 per cent of boys under the age of 21.
• This is a reduction from the 2015-2016 NFHS-4 which showed that 26.8 per cent of girls and 20.3 per cent of boys marry under the legal age of marriage.
• Child marriage has been on a steady decline in India. The prevalence of child marriages in India has halved since the enactment of the PCMA in 2006 from 47 per cent to 27 per cent in 2015-16 and 23.3 per cent in 2019-2021.
• The decline in child marriage in India is in line with the global trend. In the past decade, the proportion of girls married as children has dropped by 15 per cent. Despite these enormous strides globally and in India, no region in the world is on track to attain the SDG-5 target (Gender Equality).
• It is estimated that the progress in reducing child marriage would need to be 12 times faster than the rate observed in the past decade to achieve the SDG-5 target.
The role of Child Marriage Prohibition Officers
• Section 16 of Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) authorises the state government to appoint for the whole state, or such part there of as may be specified, an officer or officers to be known as the ‘Child Marriage Prohibition Officers’ (CMPO) having jurisdiction over the area or areas specified in the notification.
• This section also specifies the functions to be discharged by CMPOs, which also include preventing solemnisation of child marriages by:
i) Taking such action as they may deem fit.
ii) To collect evidence for the effective prosecution of persons contravening the provisions of the Act.
iii) To advise the individuals or counsel the residents of the locality not to indulge in promoting, helping, aiding or allowing the solemnisation of child marriages.
iv) To create awareness about the ill effects of child marriages.
v) To sensitise the community on the issue of child marriages.
• However, reports show that CMPOs are often tasked with multiple responsibilities, limiting their capacity to focus on child marriage prevention.
• Many states designate officials holding other substantial roles, such as Child Development Project Officers or District Welfare Officers as the CMPO.
• This leads to CMPOs prioritising their duties in the discharge of other roles — defeating the purpose of appointing CMPOs — as they would not have the time, monetary and human resources to carry out the responsibilities enumerated in the Act.
Constitutional guarantees against child marriage
• The right to free choice and autonomy, education and development of the child with all their offshoots are firmly recognised by the legal system.
• The material deprivation of health, education, employment and life opportunities wreaked by child marriage is an affront to cherished constitutional principles of equality, liberty and free expression.
• Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees the right to life and personal liberty.
• The right to life and liberty enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution is violated by the commission of child marriage. All children married as minors are denied their right to choice and autonomy, right to education, right to sexuality and the right to development of the child. Girls who are married as children are denied their right to health.
• Child marriage deprives children of their autonomy and right to fully develop and enjoy their childhood. The right to free choice and autonomy in marriage encompasses three Fundamental Rights:
i) The right to free and informed consent.
ii) The right against gender based violence.
iii) The right to sexual autonomy.
• These interconnected rights form the foundation for ensuring that marriage is a consensual partnership rather than a coercive arrangement, particularly when addressing the issue of child marriage.
• Upon marriage, a girl is expected to bear children and prove her fertility. Decisions of reproduction are withdrawn from the girl and placed in the hands of the family. The right to choice and autonomy of a woman who is married as a child is violated by the system of child marriage.
• When minor girls are forced to make conjugal relations, they experience post-traumatic stress and depression emanating from sexual abuse by an elder partner.
• Child marriage leads to irreversible physical and psychological damage in girls. Her choice is eviscerated in matters of selection of partner, time of marriage, reproductive freedom and sexuality. Article 21 protects these rights.
• The right to childhood belongs to all sexes. Education — primary, sexual and life enhancing — is integral to the right to childhood.
• It falls on the State to ensure that children are informed of ways in which their life is likely to interact with society and the cautions to bear in the journey they chart out in life so that they may enjoy and exercise their rights under Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(a) and 21.
Efforts to curb child marriage
• The State’s intervention in preventing child marriage aligns with its duty to act in the best interest of children, ensuring their safety, development, and freedom from practices that harm their physical, emotional, and educational prospects. This principle has been repeatedly upheld by the judiciary as essential in upholding child rights and creating a supportive environment that upholds their well-being and growth into empowered, healthy citizens.
• The Union government has been implementing several schemes aimed at empowering young girls and women.
• The ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme specifically aims to address issues of gender inequality by promoting the education and welfare of girls. It targets high-risk districts with low child sex ratios and focuses on changing societal attitudes toward girls through awareness campaigns, community engagement, and promoting girl-friendly educational infrastructure.
• Additionally, the Union government has established Childline (1098), a 24x7 emergency outreach service for children in crisis, which coordinates with police and child protection services to address various issues, including child marriage prevention.
• Each state and UT in India has introduced training programmes, awareness initiatives, and financial incentives as part of a comprehensive approach to enforcing the PCMA. These efforts encompass preventive training, education, financial support, and community-based outreach to discourage child marriage and promote girls’ education and empowerment.
Awareness initiatives: Awareness initiatives play a vital role in changing societal perceptions about child marriage and promoting girls’ education. States have deployed varied and unique measures in spreading awareness such as leveraging local media to economically empower girls, distributing legal informational pamphlets in rural areas, partnering with NGOs, facilitating community meetings, targeted awareness programs focusing on high school students and school dropouts, and running educational YouTube channels.
Financial incentives: It has a significant role in these initiatives. In Telangana, the Shaadi Mubarak and Kalyana Lakshmi schemes offer cash transfers to eligible families; for instance, families receive a one-time grant of approximately Rs 1 lakh upon the girl reaching adulthood.
Chhattisgarh offers a similar scheme, the Noni Suraksha Yojana, while Bihar’s Kanya Utthaan Yojana provides financial support of Rs 25,000 per girl to encourage education and delay marriages and Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana aids families by covering marriage expenses for eligible girls.
Madhya Pradesh’s Ladli Lakshmi Yojana links financial support to educational milestones, offering up to Rs 6,000 for completing certain grades. In Andhra Pradesh, the Jagananna Amma Vodi program aims to improve the Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) and promote higher education for girls. Rajasthan’s Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana provides financial assistance to BPL families from SC, ST, and minority communities for the marriages of girls upon reaching 18 years.
These financial incentives serve as a powerful tool in reducing child marriage and enhancing girls' education by alleviating the financial expenses of families. These states demonstrate promising results in increasing girls' enrolment in schools through targeted financial assistance programmes.
Other initiatives: Some states conduct regular meetings with school authorities to identify and reintegrate school dropouts, using education as a key tool to prevent child marriages.
States like Assam collaborate with NGOs and CBOs to rehabilitate victims, provide compensation, and facilitate home visits through District Child Protection Unit staff.
Several states have also drafted action plans: Uttar Pradesh has District Action Plans for ending child marriage and adolescent empowerment, incorporating and adapting activities from the State Action Plan.
Some states like Karnataka have created online portals to monitor child marriage cases, enhancing transparency and accountability. These structural initiatives, supported by partnerships with community organisations and digital monitoring tools, are crucial to a holistic approach that prevents child marriages and strengthens protection for vulnerable children.
Challenges in tackling child marriage
• PCMA focuses on two key pillars: (a) raising awareness and (b) prosecution.
• Despite progress in awareness campaigns, there is still a pressing need to enhance accountability mechanisms, ensure mandatory reporting, and rehabilitate minors affected by child marriages.
• Further attention is required to make the legal framework more effective by addressing loopholes and ensuring swift action against offenders, particularly in areas with high child marriage prevalence.
• There remains a gap in implementing specific, targeted measures focused solely on the prevention of child marriage. Existing schemes, while impactful, do not provide sufficient tools to tackle child marriage comprehensively.
• For instance, while training and educational programs are vital, there appears to be a lack of robust mechanisms to monitor the long-term outcomes of these initiatives, particularly in rural and underserved areas where child marriage rates are often high.
• Additionally, while financial support is essential in empowering women, it may not always effectively reach the most vulnerable communities.
• While the PCMA seeks to prohibit child marriages, it does not stipulate on betrothals. Marriages fixed in the minority of a child also have the effect of violating their rights to free choice, autonomy, agency and childhood. It takes away from them their choice of partner and life paths before they mature and form the ability to assert their agency.
Way forward
• Addressing child marriage requires an intersectional approach that acknowledges the overlapping vulnerabilities experienced by children, especially girls from marginalised communities.
• Intersectionality involves considering factors like gender, caste, socioeconomic status, and geography, which often increase the risks of early marriage.
• Preventive strategies should therefore be tailored to the unique needs of various communities and focus on addressing the root causes of child marriage, such as poverty, gender inequality, lack of education, and entrenched cultural practices.
• The PCMA as a social legislation will only succeed through the collective efforts of all stakeholders to address the issue within a broader social framework which emphasises the need for multi-sectoral coordination.
• This necessitates the enhancement of reporting mechanisms, expansion of public awareness campaigns, and investment in the training and capacity-building of law enforcement officers and related actors.
• It is also crucial to regularly monitor the implementation of the Act, conduct evaluations to identify gaps, and establish feedback mechanisms to continually refine and improve responses to child marriage.
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