Even though the prevalence of child marriage declined in India from 49.4% in 1993 to 22.3% in 2021, a Lancet Global Health study revealed that one in five underage girls and one in six boys are forced into child marriage. By 2021 , researchers estimated that more than 13.4 million women aged 20 to 24 were forced into marriage during childhood.
“Child marriage is a human rights violation. ,” lead author Jewel Gausman, a research associate at Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health said in the university’s press release. “It is both a cause and a consequence of social and economic vulnerability that leads to a range of poor health outcomes. The state/union territory stagnation in reaching zero child marriage that we observed is a significant concern—and is a call for India to reignite progress.”
Gausman and team used data from India’s National Family Health Survey and analyzed how many women and men aged 20 to 24 were married before their 18th birthday. “Although child marriage in girls and boys has declined at the national level from 1993 to 2021, the subnational variation suggests possible stagnation in the rate of decline. Further, the headcount burden has indicated that the absolute number of boys and girls subjected to child marriage increased in several states over time, despite decreasing prevalence,” they wrote in the study.
Despite stringent laws against this practice, in the last eight years, six Indian states reported a higher prevalence of child marriage in girls. “States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Rajasthan that currently witness a high burden and prevalence of child marriage should be given focused attention. Child marriages have long-term implications on the fertility, health, and mortality patterns that adversely affect the economy and population well-being,” they added.
While India’s most populated state, Uttar Pradesh, saw the most significant decrease in child marriages from 1993 to 2021, West Bengal witnessed more than 500,000 girls being married as children — which was the largest increase in the country. Whereas Manipur, Goa, and Gujarat failed to prevent child marriages (in boys) from increasing between 2006 to 2021. “Given that state governments tend to enact social sector policy in India, historical implementation of programmes to address child marriage has varied across and within states,”
“In many countries, increased global attention to ending child marriage has been coupled with the passing of legislation to ban child marriage during the last decade. Advocacy efforts continue to focus on closing the legal loopholes that continue to allow the practice,” the researchers observed. “Given that state governments tend to enact social sector policy in India, historical implementation of programmes to address child marriage has varied across and within states.”
“Although some research points to the positive effect of minimum marriage age laws on reducing the prevalence of child marriage in countries that have implemented them,others argue that such laws are difficult to enforce, especially in rural and hard-to-reach areas or in settings where other authorities, including religious institutions, can grant marriages outside of government oversight, ultimately rendering little effect of the laws. Further, child marriage bans could be accompanied by poor enforcement, thereby limiting their effect,” they added.
The findings of this study were published in the journal Lancet Global Health in December, 2023.
