Precious Ogunyemi

In recent years, the international community, as well as some national governments, have shown significant commitment to reduce the prevalence of child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM) due to its impact on global health and country development. In the 21st Century, child marriage is a practice disproportionately ascribed to young girls in many regions of the world due to a set of fixed gender norms, beliefs, and other factors that are reflected in socio-cultural institutions and legal systems.

Most of the attention around CEFM is focused on South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa since the highest rates derive from these regions. South Asia in particular “is home to almost half (42 percent) of all child marriages worldwide” with India problematically making up 33% of the child marriages in the entire region.  Nonetheless, South Asia has seen the largest decline in child marriage in the last 10 years, largely due to India’s progress. After all, the child marriage rates in India have fallen “from 47 percent to 27 percent” over the last decade. Thus, this paper’s research will be focused on India since it is home to one in three of the world’s total child brides, and the gender focus will be on the millions of girls disproportionately affected by this vile practice. Moreover, it will more specifically focus on India’s state of West Bengal since it ranks first in a list of the top 12 states that show a higher prevalence of child marriage for girls ages 15-19, and its recent efforts to combat CEFM have been recognized internationally.  

West Bengal, according to the most recent data provided by the fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) in India for the years 2015-2016, ranks first in a list of the top 12 states that show a higher prevalence of child marriage for girls ages 15-19, with a percentage of 25.6 compared to the national average at 11.9%. Nonetheless, West Bengal, in the third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) for the years 2005-2006 had a percentage of 34.0, which shows a considerable decrease of 8.4% in just 10 years for girls ages 15-19. In some Indian states, the prevalence of child marriage differs substantially and continues to persist despite government efforts, but in others, the prevalence of CEFM is decreasing gradually and thus must be studied for their progressive impact. 

There is not one unique solution to solve the overarching problem that is CEFM, especially since there are many causes and factors that contribute to CEFM which depend and differ on each particular area of the world. Thus, in order to properly tackle CEFM, governments and institutions need specific and targeted action based on the fundamental factors, indicators, and circumstances of child marriage in a particular place. Thus, in order to properly tackle CEFM, one must understand the different intervention types and approaches one can utilize and in which circumstances to apply them. The Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning (GIRL) Center have grouped into four categories the most used approaches towards child marriage such as community, economic, schooling and empowerment interventions. In recent years, India has put in place a number of single intervention conditional cash transfer schemes (CCT) across their states that, in the case of child marriage, “provide an economic incentive to poor families if a girl remains unmarried until she is 18”.  

Studies of implemented CCTs to tackle child, early and forced marriage show the variability in employing either mixed approaches or a single approach scheme(s) in order to respond to the CEFM determinants and reduce their overall prevalence. Furthermore, in 2017, the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee received the highest prize in United Nations Public Service Award for their 2013 State Government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) Scheme called Kanyashree Prakalpa “Girl Child” for its initiative to combat child marriage by promoting education to young girls. This scheme, which will be described in detail later on, utilizes a mixed approach whereby schooling and economic incentives were put in place to reduce CEFM. Thus, this research paper aims to understand the specific determinants of CEFM in India’s state of West Bengal and aims to explore the extent to which the CCT Scheme Kanyashree Prakalpa’s impacted the reduction of child marriage in the state. 

Costs of Child Marriage in India and West Bengal 

As a result of robing girl-children of their childhood and of their personal, psychological, emotional, social, and educational development, child marriage impacts many fundamental structures in society. To name some of its most critical impacts on countries, child marriage has significant negative effects on national economies since it creates undesired population growth, the “burden of illiteracy, poor health”, and ultimately leads to “intergenerational transmission of poverty”. Moreover, child marriages more often than not results in “early pregnancy, maternal and neonatal mortality, educational setbacks, lower employment prospects, and exposure to violence and abuse” for victims hence hindering economic and social development.  

The impact of child marriage extends far and wide, from a local to a global and from an individual level to impact communities as a whole. Because of its reach, child marriage now forms part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under Goal number 5 “Gender Equality” target 3. To sum up its importance globally, without the eradication of child marriage, 8 of the 17 SDGs cannot be met such as: “Goal 1: No Poverty; Goal 2: Zero Hunger; Goal 3: Good Health And Wellbeing; Goal 4: Inclusive And Quality Education; Goal 5: Gender Equality; Goal 8: Economic Growth; Goal 10: Reduce Inequalities; Goal 16: Peace, Justice And Strong Institutions” (Girls Not Brides). Thus, it is of the utmost importance to target child marriages globally, especially in countries like India since they harbor the highest absolute number of child brides in the world. 

International Instruments Defining Child, Early, and Forced Marriage 

Child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) is recognized as a human rights violation and it is regarded as a social ill that has a disproportionate impact on young girls and lasting consequences for the individual, as well as their society.  The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Article 1 defines a child as “any person under the age of 18”. Thus, child marriage has come to be defined as “any formal marriage or informal union where one or both people are under 18 years old” even if some nations have set a lower age for marriage. Moreover, a forced marriage entails a situation where “one or both people [to the marriage] do not consent and pressure or abuse is used” to get them to comply . Thus, a child marriage is considered in itself forced since it is recognized that a child “cannot provide informed consent”. Moreover, the international treaty on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women states that “the betrothal and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect” and “calls upon states to set the legal minimum age for marriage and to make marriage registration compulsory”. In compliance with international human rights standards, India ratified the UNCRC in 1992, and even ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) a year later, which signaled further commitment from the state to ensure free and full consent to marriage. 

It’s important to mention which rights of the child are violated under international law instruments by the practice of CEFM. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), even though child marriage is not directly addressed, does set the rights entitled to children and below are the rights violated by CEFM: 

• “The rights not to be separated from parents (article 35)  

• Freedom of expression, (article 36)  
• Arbitrary interference with a child’s privacy and family (article 38).  
• The right to protection from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parents, guardians, or any other person (article 39);  
• The right to health and to access to health services (article 40); the right to be protected from harmful traditional practices (article 41);  
• The right to education on the basis of equal opportunity (article 42);  

• The right to protection from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (article 43)”

India’s Child Marriage Laws 

The first legal prohibition against child marriage in India was set up by the British government in 1929 as the Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA). It sought to bridge the conflict between the traditional cultural laws and modern state laws that exist due to India’s pluralist society. Since many faiths are represented in India, they each have their own legal order systems “typically based on religious ideas” such as “Hindu law, Islamic law, Buddhist law, tribal laws” and so on which prescribe their appropriate age for marriage and often create barriers for the enforcement of domestic legislation. As a response, the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 (CMRA) extended across the whole nation and “prohibits the practice of child marriage regardless of the parties’ religious, societal, or cultural affiliation”. The CMRA was amended for the second time in 1978 and its definition of a “child” was finally increased for girls from 14 to 18 and for boys from 18 to 21. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 (CMRA) in sections 3-6 describes punishments for those who marry a child, performs child marriage, and even promote or fail to prevent child marriage; however, the punishments were lenient and thus not effective in limiting the practice. 

Another legal instrument introduced by the Indian government, The Child Marriage Prohibition Act of 2006, resembles the CMRA but adds further preventive and punitive components. Firstly, it increases punishments for those engaging in the practice. For instance, for male adults marrying a girl-child, the punishment is no longer a “simple imprisonment which may extend to three months and shall also be liable to fine” as per the CMRA, but it is now a “rigorous imprisonment of up to two years” and shall be liable to a fine “which may extend to one lakh rupees”  (Bharti 2008 Print). Moreover, it “appoints child marriage protection officers to every state to deter child marriage, provides protection of victims, and brings offenders to justice”, but the extent of their operation is unclear. In addition, while the Act declared, once again, child marriage as illegal, it did not automatically make them all void. Instead, child marriages are only void if they were performed under the use of “force/threat/fraud/kidnapping” and the child is able to “declare her marriage void at any time up two years after reaching adulthood” by filing a petition for annulment in district court. It is clear there are legal loopholes and not enough reform, accountability, and protections to combat child marriage. The law is also not strictly enforced which allows the practice to continue. Moreover, as the law does not target the root of the problem, its weaknesses may augment the problem and do not sufficiently contribute to its reduction. Many studies have shown that the higher the level of education, the lower the chance of child marriage; thus, it must not be forgotten that higher education comes at a cost since it is no longer subsidized like primary education and that families are less likely to invest on their daughters’ education as a result of gender norms and biases.