Participating in a series of webinars and physical meetings — “Lado Panchayats” — under the aegis of “Selfie With Daughter Foundation”, a non-government organisation working on gender issues, over the past few weeks, women, from across the country, have advocated the need to increase the minimum marriageable age of girls to 21 years from the present 18.
“We have held a dozen webinars with participants from across the country and physical meetings with the women in different districts of Haryana to discuss the issue of marriageable age for the females. The participants have overwhelmingly supported that the marriageable age should be at par with the men,” said Sunil Jaglan, founder, Selfie With Daughter Foundation.
Meetings in Haryana
The foundation has held physical meetings in Haryana’s Gurugram, Nuh, Jind, Hisar and Sonipat districts so far. Mr. Jaglan said that the participants in the webinars presented poems, and articles to articulate their views on the issue. Some of the participants had offered to help the campaign with a digital support.
In a recent webinar, the men from the families of the women participants, including fathers and brothers, also took part in the discussion and pledged their support to the cause. He, however, added that some of the posts of the women participants on the social media seeking support for their campaign had also evoked adverse comments.
Seeking higher marriageable age, the women, in the Lado Panchayats, broadly argued that their studies were adversely impacted due to early marriage. Most of them were of the view that marriage at an early age also led to physical, mental and social exploitation.
