‘Child marriage is not the right way to shield girls from sexual crimes’
As the demand for lowering the age of marriage has sparked outrage, the United Nations has told India that child marriage is not the right way to shield girls from sexual crimes.
In a joint letter to Union Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath, four U.N. organisations have urged India to address the issue of child marriage immediately and seek a political commitment to the goal of ending this harmful practice.
Written to mark the U.N.’s first International Day of the Girl Child, observed on Thursday, the letter says child marriage denies a girl childhood, disrupts her education, limits her opportunities, increases the risk of her becoming a victim of violence, jeopardises her health, and therefore constitutes an obstacle to the achievement of nearly every Millennium Development Goal and the development of healthy communities.
“Today, 11 October, is the U.N.’s first International Day of the Girl Child. … this year’s day focuses on child marriage, which is a fundamental human rights violation and impacts all aspects of a girl’s life.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on December 19, 2011 to declare 11 October the International Day of the Girl Child, calling all member countries to recognise the rights of girls,” it points out.
More than 40 per cent of the world’s child marriages happen in India. In eight States of the country, more than half of young girls are married before they attain the age of 18, it says.
“There is an urgent need to raise awareness of the negative consequences of child marriage … The U.N. reaffirms its commitment to work hand in hand with the government of India to deliver a multi-sectoral response to addressing child marriage, including strengthening law enforcement, investing in the education of girls and giving them skills to become economically empowered.” The letter is signed by Frederika Meijer, Country Representative, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Louis-Georges Arsenault, Representative, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); Anne Stenhammer, Regional Programme Director, U.N. Women, South Asia Sub Regional Office; and Kiran Mehra-Kerpelman, Director, U.N. Information Centre for India and Bhutan.
AIDWA’s call
The All-India Democratic Women’s Association has condemned the spate of rapes in Haryana and demanded action against the culprits.
Keywords: International Day of the Girl Child, child marriage row, United Nations call, sexual crimes, Haryana rape cases
Khap Panchayat judgement is vague and cannot be considered to be an instrument to fight rape and abduction.The amicable solution to the problem is the realization among the masses that females have a different face of your mother ,sister ,grandma and daughter.Why dont the Indian Junta understand before doing heinous crime.They are doing something which is against the law of nature .Government protection is utmost important for the girl child .As there are many cases lined up stating girls are being molested while on the way to school and sometimes at school .This is the need of the hour that the government should proactive to address such social issue .Why the girls should be deprived of their freedom,why cant they got to school this is really a challenging task before the government .Last but not the least bringing the social issue in the eye of international community is a kind of shame to the people of our country.We must jointly work together and draft an amicable solution
Backward mentality North Indian states like Haryana, Punjab & Uttar Pradesh are bringing shame to India infront of international community. To top the shame these places are not far away areas but within 100-200 km from national capital (supposed to be most developed place of any nation). Compared to them far away Assam, Kerala etc are much more progressive in their treatment of women.
Child marriage, especially for girls, is considered by parents a viable solution to the problems (rapes and abductions etc. involving children) when the law and order situation in society is weak. This was clear even in the suggestions recently by khap Panchayats in Haryana as they asked for the marriage age to be lowered to reduce the incidents of rape. The Govt. therefore also needs to first improve the law and order in society to discourage child marriage and not just implement laws against child marriage.
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