Fighting the spike in child marriage cases caused by COVID lockdown
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Download document Mumbai: Marriages are made in heaven – an oft quoted saying that goes back centuries, is now facing a serious threat to its credibility, especially in COVID-19 plagued India. According to the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, between March to June, 5,584 cases of child marriage were received.
The Women and Child Development department of the Government of Maharashtra has reported an increase of 78.3% in child marriage cases, till September 2020. The number of cases witnessed a sharp rise post June; in the subsequent three months, 138 new cases have been registered, marking a 17% increase over the previous year.
“During our interactions with parents in Rajasthan’s villages, we learned that parents are keen to get their young adolescent girls married to prevent them from eloping with boys/men of their choice. It is a tool to keep control over girls and their developing sexuality. The supreme importance of maintaining the family’s ‘izzat’ or honour acts a very strong driver for getting girls married off before they even turn 14, in Rajasthan”, shared Uma Choudhary, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Vikalp Sansthan.
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated socio-economic lockdown have let to escalated and magnified the forces driving child marriages in India. Future generations will view the year 2020 as ‘year zero’ for the beginning of a new fight. To better understand the threat and impact of the pandemic and lockdown on child marriage cases, Educo in India organised a multi-stakeholder national-level webinar, today.
Guruprasad Rao, Country Director of Educo in India opened the webinar by laying out the conditions and circumstances that are responsible for the spike in child marriage cases during the COVID lockdown. “Societal norms dictate that a getting a daughter married off is a big responsibility of the family. The COVID pandemic has added a new set of drivers, namely migrant workers have returned due to lack of employment and families have been forced into poverty. The closure of schools due to the pandemic is an extremely critical driver as well”, he said.
At Educo’s webinar, representatives of NGOs working in various states shared their experiences of addressing root causes leading to child marriage cases. Some of the interventions that are being explored to fight the surge in cases of child marriage included: “We need to restart schools and readmit the girls who have dropped out. Providing them with safe spaces by reopening schools and life skill training to help girls become economically independent will enable them to speak up against any kind of rights violation. Government systems, child protection mechanisms and institutions need to be strengthened significantly”, said Sumitra Ashtekar, a child rights consultant in Maharashtra.
Asmita & Bhagyashree, two girls from Latur shared their opinion on the practice of child marriage in their village. They said, "It's not only the fault of parents. Poverty and lack of economic opportunities act as strong drivers of child marriage. The government should enforce the anti-child marriage law even more strongly in the post-COVID world. On our part, we are working with our adolescent girls’ collectives to raise awareness about this issue, especially amongst our friends and other adolescent girls."
Vasudeva Sharma, Executive Director of Child Rights Trust highlighted that the practice of child marriage robs girls of getting a chance to study. “Even though the number of cases reported during COVID are high, but it does not necessarily mean that the actual number of cases have spiked, due to lack of reliable data and evidence. However, due to heightened awareness amongst citizens and CSOs, a much larger number of FIRs are being registered these days. The media has also taken an active interest in tracking and reporting child marriage cases”, he concluded.
Recently published studies by various global NGOs like Save The Children, World Vision, UNFPAUNICEF, etc. have highlight some COVID-instigated alarming global trends and findings in child marriage cases.
In addition to the estimated 12 million child brides every year, an additional half a million girls will be forced into marriage this year.
An estimated total of 2.5 million girls will be at risk of being forced into early marriage by 2025.
The after-effects of the COVID pandemic will set back 25 years of efforts in ending child marriages.
COVID-19 will disrupt efforts to end child marriage, potentially resulting in an additional 13 million child marriages taking place between 2020 and 2030 that could otherwise have been averted.
South Asia is expected to have the maximum number of cases in the next five years, a staggering 956,000 instances of child marriages.
Notes to the Editor
About Educo in India: Educo (a member of ChildFund Alliance) is a global development NGO working for the defense of children’s rights and promotion of sustainable social change by improving the living conditions of vulnerable populations, especially children. Our action is based on the Convention of the Rights of the Child focusing around the three institutional goals on: Education, Protection and Governance. Educo has been working in India since 1998, both through direct action and through local NGO partners. In India, Educo works in the State of Maharashtra — in the Districts of Pune, Nashik and Thane and in the city of Mumbai – offering education, health and protection projects that benefit more than 136,000 children and young people.
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For more information or clarifications, please get in touch with:
Arushi Sen
Communications Officer
Educo in India
M: +91-7506141137 | W: www.educo.org | E: arushi.sen@educo.org