Girls
not Brides
Kerala, the state which achieved
100 per cent literacy for women, is now finding it hard to deal with an ever-increasing
number of teenage girls being forced into early marriage. Don Bosco is happy
and proud that we were able to save more than 6 children from child marriage in
the month of November 2014.
UNICEF considers Child
marriage (marriage before 18 years) as a violation of human rights. Recently, a
UNICEF survey had revealed that child marriages are on the rise in Kerala, ironically
the most literate state in the country. Dora
Giusti, Unicef's child protection specialist in India, says "in the
southern part of India we have a relatively better gender balance which
explains lower rates of child marriage. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown
a rising rate in Kerala”.
The numbers in the records of National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB) are also finding new highs in violations of the Prohibition of
Child Marriage Act of 2006. Out of the 220 cases reported in the country last
year, 11 are from Kerala. The NCRB data also indicates that the state is rising
up in the rate- from 0.06 per cent in 2012 to 0.12 per cent in 2013.
According to NFHS-III survey 47.3% of
women aged 20-24 were married by age 18. Of these, 2.6 percent were married
before they turned 13, 22.6 percent were married before they were 16, and 44.5
percent were married when they were between 16 and 17. Child marriage in Kerala
is at 15.4%.
Even
though we have sufficient laws and machineries to prevent child marriage, the number
of cases is going up this year compared to 2013. As per the data published on
the official website of the Kerala Police, 15 cases have been registered under
the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act till September this year. But we have had
many more reported to CHILDLINE.
Through many years of awareness of 1098 – toll free
child helpline phone number, children are mustering courage to report such cases
to CHILDLINE. We try to get the assistance of police to rescue children in
certain cases. There are many cases in which the families end it without the
case reaching to police stations. This means that there are more cases than the
official statistics.
We need to be vigilant to child marriages because it
is still rampant in our contemporary times though we claim to be ‘literate’. This
leads our attention to why child marriage is wide spread in Kerala despite of the
debates that followed the controversial marriage of a 17-year-old girl with a
UAE national, the Arabikalyanam
incident, in Kozhikode last year.
There
are lots of reasons behind the child marriage like,
·
Economic necessity,
·
Male protection for one’s daughters,
·
Child bearing,
·
Fulfilling the wish of the family
members.
·
Oppressive traditional values and norms.
·
Certain religious traditions
·
Girl children getting into early
relations without knowledge of parents.
Consequences
of child marriages are very harmful. Viz.,
·
Segregation from family and friends,
·
Limiting the child's interactions with
the community and peers,
·
Lack
of opportunities for education,
·
Girl children often face situations of
bonded labour, enslavement,
·
Commercial sexual exploitation and
violence,
·
Serious health risks for mother and child
·
Early pregnancy, and various STDs
especially HIV/AIDS,
·
Maternal death etc.
The graphs are growing to new highs which indicate that
our state has to have responsible evaluation and improvements in the existing machineries
and laws. The mistakes are basic and if corrected, things can be kept under
control with timely interventions. In our complex caste and religious social
structure, the laws may face limitations but progressive social lessons and
awareness can play a major part than mere laws.
Don
Bosco Trivandrum feels proud to say that we could prevent number of children
from the danger of child marriage in the year 2014 and many have continued with
their studies and look towards a brighter future instead of early burden on
their tiny shoulders.
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