New delhi date. 22 April 2023, Saturday

UNICEF has said in a report, that South Asia has the highest number of child marriages in the world. Due to increasing financial pressure and closure of schools due to Covid-19, families were forced to marry off their underage daughters.

According to UNICEF, South Asia has 290 million more children and this number is 45 percent of the global number. While presenting its report, Unicef ​​lamented that these figures prove inadequate for efforts to end the practice.

According to a Reuters report, UNICEF regional director Noala Skinner said that South Asia has the highest burden of child marriage in the world. The organization has called for more efforts to end child marriage.

Noala Skinner further said that child marriage keeps girls away from education. Along with this, the practice also endangers the health and happiness of girls. This practice forces girls to compromise their future.

For the study conducted by the institute, people were interviewed in 16 locations in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. It found that education options for girls were limited during the Covid lockdown, so many parents chose marriage as the best option for their daughters, marrying them off at an early age.

The study also found that during the pandemic, financial pressure on families increased to such an extent that it was better to marry off daughters at an early age to reduce household expenses.

The Legal Age of marriage for women is 20 in Nepal, 18 in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and 16 in Afghanistan. It is also 16 in Pakistan, except in the state of Sindh where the minimum age is 18.

Poverty became the reason for early marriage of girls

The organization also sought public opinion on possible solutions during the talks. According to him, people demanded social security measures to fight poverty, protect every child's right to education, create a framework to ensure compliance with the law.

In this context, we need to empower girls through education, Bjorn Andersen, regional director for Asia-Pacific at the United Nations Population Fund, told Reuters. This education also includes comprehensive sex education. At the same time, we must teach girls skills and communities must fight against child marriage.

According to the Pew Research Center, child marriage is still practiced in 117 countries, including the United States. According to Girls Not Brides, a global organization working to end child marriage, child marriage endangers the child physically and emotionally.

Child-married girls are at the highest risk during delivery. Apart from this, these girls have to face domestic violence. The Pew Research Center recently asserted that child marriage is an international epidemic that every citizen of the world needs to fight against.

Most of the child marriages take place in these countries

India

Number of child marriages: 26,610,000

Percentage of girls married by age 18: 47%

Legal Age of Marriage: Boys 21; Girls 18

In India, the marriage rate of girls under the age of 15 has declined, but the marriage rate of girls between the ages of 15 and 18 has increased. The new census also revealed that the rate of child marriage is increasing in India's urban areas, while it is decreasing in rural areas.

According to a report, 21% of child marriages are taking place in 70 districts of the country. It includes 16 districts of Maharashtra. This is the highest number of child marriages since 2011. Maharashtra is the third richest state in India. In Maharashtra's north-eastern Bhandara district, early marriage of girls has increased more than fivefold.

Rajasthan, India's ninth poorest state (in terms of per capita income), marries more girls aged 10-17 and boys aged 10-20 than any other state. The legal age of marriage is fixed at 18 and 21 years.

Compared to all Indian states, 8.3% of girls aged 10 to 17 and 8.6% of girls aged 10 to 20 were married before the legal age in Rajasthan.

India's Ministry of Women and Child Development prepared a national action plan to prevent child marriage in 2013, although the draft is yet to be finalised.

Ethiopia

Number of child marriages: 1,974,000

Percentage of girls married by age 18: 41%

Legal Age of Marriage: Boys/Girls 18

There is a custom in Ethiopia. In this practice, cousins ​​kidnap sisters and force them into marriage. As a result, one in five girls are married before the age of 18. According to Girls Not Brides, an organization working in this direction, only 12 percent of married girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in Ethiopia go to school.

What is the age of marriage in Ethiopia?

The legal age of marriage in Ethiopia is 18, but the law is not strictly enforced. There is also no national registry to track births, marriages and deaths, so it is difficult for officials to prove that a girl is a minor at the time of marriage.

At the Girl Summit in 2014, the Ethiopian government spoke of ending child marriage by 2025.

Brazil

Number of child marriages: 2,928,000

Percentage of girls married by age 18: 36%

Legal Age of Marriage: Boys/Girls 18; 16 with parental consent

Brazilian law sets the age of marriage at 16 with parental consent, but according to The World Policy Center, there is a provision for marriage under 16 if a minor becomes pregnant after rape. Brazil has the highest rate of teen pregnancy.

Nigeria

Number of child marriages: 3,306,000

Percentage of girls married by age 18: 43%

Legal Age of Marriage: Boys/Girls: 18

Nigeria's constitution does not specify a minimum age for marriage, but the Child Rights Act of 2003 sets the minimum age at 18. However, only 23 of Nigeria's 36 states implement this law.

Many Nigerian parents say that it is common for girls to be married off at an early age. The biggest reason for this is the lack of quality of education in the country. In Nigerian, it is considered the best option for parents to get their daughters married as soon as they grow up.

Bangladesh

Number of child marriages: 3,931,000

Percentage of girls married by age 18: 52%

Legal Age of Marriage: Boys 21; Girls 18

According to a report, there is a penalty for adults marrying children in Bangladesh. However, loopholes in the legal system still allow child marriages in special circumstances.

Child marriage in Bangladesh is rooted in religious beliefs and poverty. Frequent floods in rural areas that require financial resources for families have made it customary to marry off girls and collect dowries.