Our Work
Child Marriage Free India
Need
Every year on average 1,621,257 girls (below the age of 18) are getting married. This translates into 4,442 girls every day, 185 girls every hour, 3 getting married every minute! (Census, 2011)
In India, 23.3% of women (between the 20-24 age group) were married before they turned 18 (2019-2021, NFHS-5).
Child marriage is a crisis of health, education, and protection. It is child rape. Infant mortality in cases of child marriage stands at 45 per 1,000 live births (by mothers below 20 years of age) as compared to 33 (by mothers between the age group of 20-29 years) (2019-2021, NFHS-5).
Approach
Just Rights for Children has created a nationwide campaign, Child Marriage Free India, run by the NGO partners, which aims to attain a tipping point to end child marriage by 2030. This is being done by initially targeting high-prevalence districts, the majority of which have rates of child marriage over the national rate of 23.3%, and gradually focusing on the other districts of the country.
The campaign, which has been running across India since 2022, combines awareness and sensitisation activities, including days of action, community events, and door-to-door conversations, with an intervention model which can be triggered by children, or concerned friends and family.
By adopting such a systematic, highly focused, and intensive strategy, it is possible to reduce the current national child marriage prevalence rate of 23.3% to 5.5% —the threshold, beyond which it is anticipated to diminish organically with reduced reliance on targeted interventions.
Action
Our partners have already been following the 'prevention, protection, and prosecution' model prescribed by the Supreme Court recently. They raise awareness of the laws around child marriage and empower children and communities to reject child marriage and intervene in child marriages before they have a chance to happen. Our efforts include,
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Prevention of child marriages by creating Surakshit Bal Grams and stopping incidences of child marriage through persuasion and legal action.
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Identification of vulnerable families and linking them with government programmes
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Ensuring appointment of Child Marriage Prohibition Officer in every village
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Ensuring accountability amongst the Panchayat and local stakeholders to manage and address cases of child marriage
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Maintenance of record of birth and marriage by the Panchayat that can be used as a proof of age on instances when a child marriage takes place
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Strengthening/ formation of Village Level Child Welfare and Protection Committees
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Working with schools to enable real-time attendance data analysis and intervention when irregularities occur.
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Awareness generation and capacity building of the stakeholders
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At state and national levels, advocate for stronger institutions, better infrastructure, free education up to grade 12 or age 18, increased social protection, and robust enforcement of existing laws.
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Allocating a set of villages to each community social worker employed. They are responsible for recording all children and stopping incidences of child marriage through persuasion and legal action.
PRIYA’S STORY
Priya*, a bright 14-year-old from Odisha, faced a dark chapter in her life. Betrayed by a trusted family friend, she endured a terrifying ordeal of abuse and kidnapping for marriage.
Last year, one day when her family members were away for their daily work, her brother’s friend came to her house and abducted her. He took her to his house, which was in the same locality, and held her captive for two days. She tried to escape but failed. She noticed that his family was in support and involved.
She learned that he kidnapped her to marry her, and the date of marriage was planned. On the third day she managed to get hold of her mobile phone and called the 1098 child helpline. Soon, she was rescued by a NGO partner of Just Rights for Children, and they found out that the man had run away.
Priya was in shock after this incident. But with support from the Community Social Worker she started healing. She told her story and shared about her dream to continue her studies further with the team. Her statement was recorded, since she requested the authorities not to send her back to her home, as she didn’t feel safe with her family the team moved her to a childcare institution for rehabilitation.
With the unwavering support of Just Rights for Children, today, Priya is continuing her education and is learning new skills like tailoring, emerging stronger than ever.
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* Name changed for protection of the child
