Ending child marriage

We are concerned that the government is yet to reject a condition in the new draft of Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014 which recommends that, even though the minimum age for marriage would remain 18, parents can marry off their 16-year-old girls as long as they have justifiable reasons behind this decision. 

Earlier, the Ministry for Women and Children's Affairs had proposed that the minimum age for marriage be reduced to 16. Following widespread criticism by women's rights activists, media and other stakeholders, that draft proposal was shelved. However, by inserting the provision that girls can be married off under special 

circumstances with parents' consent at 16, rights activists argue that the draft is essentially legalising under-age marriage. We reiterate the concern and ask: what constitutes "special circumstances" in a country where patriarchal social norms dictate when and/or in what terms a girl should get married? 

We fear that such a waiver would open up the possibility for abuse of the law, and encourage more people to marry off their daughters at even younger ages. 

We applaud the Prime Minister's pledge at the 2014 Girl Summit in London to end marriage for girls under 15 and reduce by more than one-third the number of girls between ages 15 and 18 who marry. However, we wonder, isn't lowering the marriage of girls counter-productive to those stated objectives?  

Instead, the government needs to address the economic and social inequalities that exacerbate child marriage, implement existing laws, create more opportunities for girls and instil egalitarian gender norms in society.