{"id":34622,"date":"2018-10-31T12:33:08","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T07:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=34622"},"modified":"2018-10-31T12:33:08","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T07:03:08","slug":"saving-child-brides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/saving-child-brides\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving child brides:\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/todays-paper\/tp-opinion\/saving-child-brides\/article19849038.ece\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Saving child brides<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Context:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, who is below 18 years of age, is rape.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What is the verdict?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marriage cannot be a license to have sex with a minor girl, the Supreme Court of India recently ruled in its judgment, the Supreme Court held in its judgment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHuman rights of a girl child are very much alive and kicking whether she is married or not and deserve recognition and acceptance,\u201d, the court observed.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The court further insisted the government to take preventive steps against child marriages.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sexual Intercourse with a girl below 18 years of age is rape, regardless of whether she is married or not.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The exception carved out in section 375 of the Indian Penal Code creates an artificial distinction between a married girl child and an unmarried girl child.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What will be the implication of this judgment?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With this judgment, the court ended the decades-old disparity between Exception 2 to Section 375 IPC and other child protection laws.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before SC ruling, there was an exception in Section 375 of IPC (rape law) provisions that protected a man who had sexual relations with his wife even if she was under 18. Wife&#8217;s<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">W\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">willingness or consent is of no concern before this judgment.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Loopholes:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The issue of Child marriage by large still remains open as the court refrained from dealing with the issue of marital rape of a woman aged above 18.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SC verdict on marital rape focused solitarily on married women below the age of 18.Thus a large part of marital rape law is still open.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government authorities need to ensure that child marriage is abolished at all cost.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Child marriage in India:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study based on 2011 Census, stated that 2.5% of marriages of minor girls were reported in Rajasthan.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The other states with a high incidence of marriages of girls below the legal age are Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Rajasthan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also topped in the percentage of boys marrying below the legal age of 21 (4.69%).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No marriage below 10 years of age was reported across the country.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Census study, 12.9% of girls got married at the age of 10-17 years and 43.6% between 18-20 years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, only 4.9% of boys got married in the 10-17 years age group and 11.2 % in the 18-below 21 age group.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study shows a minor decline of 0.1% in the marriage of minor girls.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The decline in rural India, between 2001 and 2011 Census was marginally higher than in the whole of the country.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the incidence of child marriage among girls increased substantially in urban India from 1.78% in 2001 to 2.45% in 2011.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Major reasons for the\u00a0prevalence of Child Marriage in India:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>1-<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>Economies of marriage<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poverty and marriage expenses such as dowry may lead a family to marry off their daughter at a young age to reduce these costs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patriarchal Indian society considers a girl as an economic burden. Marrying her off at an early age is a way to transfer this burden to the marital family.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is believed that the marriage of the boy brings home an additional hand to assist the unpaid household and economic activities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>2-<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><b>Lack of education:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poor educational opportunities for girls, especially in rural areas increase the vulnerability of a girl child to be married off early.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the current patriarchal set up a girl\u2019s right to education is regarded as a secondary priority to her labor in the household<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This aggravates the situation as the girl&#8217;s\u2019 power to resist marriage and opt for alternative aspirations is decreased.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patriarchy and gender inequalities prevailing in the Indian society is one of the major reasons for persisting high incidence of child marriages.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prevailing cultural perspectives to encourage the child marriage to thrive in.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inadequate implementation of laws is a major reason for persisting menace of child marriage in the country.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the implications of child marriage?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Early marriage is a serious infringement of child rights. Some of the implications of child marriage are given below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>1-<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span> <b>On women health<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Issues related to early pregnancy. Mental health is also a major concern. Violence and abuse at marital home can lead to post-traumatic stress and depression.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>2-<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span> <b>On Education:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Girls are forced to drop out schools. There lie\u00a0a cause and effect relationship between lack of education and child marriage.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>3-<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span> <b>On fertility: <\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lower age at marriage directly affects fertility rates. Lower the rate of age at marriage higher is the fertility rate.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>4-<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span> <b>Maternal mortality: <\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maternal mortality is high among women who have conceived at an early age. Risks associated with pregnancy are higher.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>5-<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span> <b>Infant Mortality: <\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mortality rates of children born to very young mothers are high. The children that survive are likely to develop health problems and are more at risk of transmitting HIV\/AIDS.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the laws related to Child Protection in India?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The age of consent under the IPC was raised from 16 to 18 under this act.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the age above which marriage is an exception to rape was retained at 15, as fixed in 1940.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>POCSO <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">criminalizes even consensual teenage sexual activity and the latest ruling has brought this into the domain of marriage.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A teenager could be prosecuted for a sexual offence under POCSO even if he was just a little above 18.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the <\/span><b>Juvenile law,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> if boys under 18 but over 16 are charged with penetrative sexual assault under POCSO or rape under the IPC, which can be termed \u2018heinous offences\u2019, they could face the prospect of being tried as adult<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Act came into effect on 1st November 2007.Under this Act, \u201cchild\u201d means a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not completed eighteen years of age. The Act defines \u201cchild marriage\u201d as a marriage where either of the contracting parties is a child<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Conclusion:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Child marriage is a social evil that adversely affects the physical and mental health of children, denies them opportunities for education and self-advancement, infringes on their bodily autonomy and deprives them of any role in deciding on many aspects of their lives. Therefore it was the right decision taken by the highest court of the land but there are some loopholes which need to address.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saving child brides:\u00a0 Context: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, who is below 18 years of age, is rape. What is the verdict? Marriage cannot be a license to have sex with a minor girl, the Supreme Court of India recently ruled in its judgment, the&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/saving-child-brides\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Saving child brides:\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704625245},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34622\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}