Child marriage
Society At Stake
“Girls are not Brides, They are not a Commodity, They have every right as Human Beings”
A patriarchal mind-set is one of the main reasons for most child marriages in India: young girls, and women in general are perceived to be natural homemakers. Their lives are to be limited within the four walls, as they are unqualified to protect themselves from the dangerous world outside. They need not be educated, nor employed, as they are born to serve and care for the men in the family. When young and unmarried, they are a liability that must be prevented from doing ‘unwomanly’ acts, to avoid bringing shame upon the community.
Hence, they must be married off young to withhold family honour, sometimes even to men twice their age. This heinous practice has notably has caused deaths in married girls aged 15-19 due to premature pregnancies. The girls run the risk of contracting HIV, and their children, if born, suffer from low immunity, many of them dying in infancy.
“They Thought that the bullet will silence us but they failed…Weakness, Fear and Hopelessness Died. Strength, Power and Courage was born”
As a matter of fact, this patriarchy is perpetuated by poverty. Around 680 million Indians lack the ability to meet their basic needs like proper food and shelter. A negligible fraction of the ever-increasing population have ‘privileges’ like electricity, education and permanent employment.