Child marriage is not just an age-old social evil, but also a heinous crime that robs children of their childhood. Child marriage is a “crime against children” that violates basic human rights, minor girls are forced to marry and live a life of mental trauma, physical and biological stress, domestic violence including limited access to education and increased vulnerability to domestic violence. The consequences of child marriage are severe and extensive. Some of the specific consequences include: early pregnancies leading to complications and higher rate of maternal mortality and death of infants, malnutrition among both the infant and the mother, increased vulnerability to reproductive health, disruption in girl’s education and thereby reduction in opportunities of her personal and professional development, domestic violence and abuse, limited decision making powers in the household, and mental health issues.

India’s Census 2011 revealed 12 million children were married before attaining the legal age, of which 5.2 million were girls. Globally, child marriage is identified as a crime and a menace that needs to be eliminated. It finds space in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, under target 5.3 of Goal 5 that states elimination of all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation by 2025.

The latest National Family Health Survey (2019-21) shows that although there is a drop in the overall rate of child marriages, from 26.8% in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 4) to 23.3% in NFHS-5, it is still high despite laws, programmes and schemes in place to address the issue.

Child Marriage Free India Campaign

Understanding the seriousness of the issue, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in W.P. Civil 382 of 2013 pronounced that the sexual intercourse committed by the husband upon his wife being under the age of 18 years with or without her consent can be constituted as rape. To address this, the most definitive and audacious commitment to end child marriage was made with the launch of Child Marriage Free India campaign.

Child Marriage Free India (CMFI) is a nationwide campaign led by women leaders and a coalition of more than 160 NGOs spanning more than 300 districts working to eliminate child marriage in India. CMFI is working to attain the tipping point of child marriage, after which the society does not accept this evil practice and that will happen when the prevalence of child marriage is brought down to 5.5% by 2030, from the current national prevalence rate of 23.3%. This is being done by initially targeting 257 high-prevalence districts and gradually focusing on all the districts of the country.

Child marriage results in child rape, resulting in child pregnancy, and in a large number of cases, may lead to child deaths. For decades, we have been losing generations of our children to child marriage. The Child Marriage Free India campaign has received extended support from various Departments and Institutions of over 28 States. So far, across India more than 5 crore people have taken the pledge to end child marriage over the last one year through the efforts of the Child Marriage Free India Campaign.

Tipping Point to end child marriage

Noted child rights activist, author, Supreme Court lawyer and founder of CMFI campaign, BhuwanRibhu has authored a book - ‘When Children Have Children: Tipping Point to End Child Marriage’ and put forth a framework advocating a sustainable, holistic and focused strategy with time-bound targets and measurable indicators to make India child marriage free by 2030. This book shows the path to eliminating child marriage in India within the next decade. As suggested by the author in the book, by adopting a systematic, highly focused, and intensive intervention model, over a phased timeline it is possible to reduce the national child marriage prevalence levels to 5.5% —the threshold, the tipping point, beyond which the prevalence is anticipated to diminish organically with reduced reliance on targeted interventions.

Tipping Point Methodology

The aim of reduction of 60% of child marriage (in each of the phases) is assumed to bring down the incidence of child marriage to 5.5% in the next 9 nine years from 2021, from the last available estimates i.e., NFHS-5, till 2030. An additional assumption is that such a focused and elaborate intervention against child marriage would have a ripple effect. The tipping point analysis has been divided into two phases. The first phase will extend over a period of six years, starting in 2021. Subsequently, the second phase will span over a three-year period. It is expected that the national average for child marriage prevalence (percentage women aged 20-24 who were married before 18 years) would decline from 23.3% to 13.7% if the prevalence of child marriage is reduced by 60% in the 257 high-prevalence districts in the first phase followed by a further reduction of 60% in all districts across the country.

a. National Level strategy where Governments, Institutions, statutory bodies, etc. work towards prevention, protection, increased investment, improved prosecution, convergence and use of technology for monitoring.
b. District Level strategy is similar to national level strategy but includes district administration, Panchayats, civil society, NGOs, other functionaries, parents and children who work collectively to prevent, report, and take action against child marriage.

My name is Aditi Kumari, and I am fifteen years old. My life has been a rollercoaster of challenges, but today, I stand as a testament to resilience and hope. Let me share my story— the story of a girl who defied tradition, fought for her rights, and found her voice.

I was born into the Mushara community—a marginalized group in Bihar, India. Poverty clung to our lives like a persistent shadow. My father toiled as a daily wage earner, and my mother managed our humble home. Education was a distant dream; survival was our reality. I studied until fifth grade, but then the weight of poverty forced me to drop out. My younger sister, too, faced the same fate.

One fateful day, my parents informed me that I was to be married. The groom was a twenty-four-year-old man from a neighboring village. I was fifteen, and my dreams were still blooming. But dreams mattered little when hunger gnawed at our bellies. My parents, desperate and helpless, saw marriage as a way out of our misery. They didn’t ask for my consent; they didn’t consider my dreams. I was a pawn in their struggle for survival.

But fate had other plans. On that very day, a frontline worker named Vikas Mitra alerted the district coordinator. The impending child marriage was like a ticking time bomb, and they raced against it. The team—tireless and determined—knocked on our doors. They spoke of the ill effects of early marriage, of shattered dreams, and of legal consequences. They spoke for me when I couldn’t find my voice.

Names changed, Renu Kumari is not pictured.

Renu Kumari, a 15-year-old girl, was usually going to her coaching class at 4:00 PM. One day, she did not return home at night. Her parents tried searching for her but could not find her. She had a cell phone and an unknown person had been calling her regularly. This person convinced her to run away. Her father lodged a complaint at the local police station.

Renu belongs to a lower middle-class family. Her father is a labour and her mother is a homemaker. She is studying in the ninth grade.

The police found her after a few days and produced her before the court. As per Renu’s statement, the court ordered to add POCSO sections in the FIR. The case is now in trial and Renu is at home.

At this stage, counselors from Gram Nehru Yuva Trust, a partner organization of the Access to Justice program in Bihar, were put in touch with Renu and her family. Renu was experiencing severe trauma. Over the weeks, a relationship was built and Renu and her family eventually agreed that the legal team from Gram Nehru Yuva Trust could appear on their behalf and arrange testimony in court.

Gram Nehru Yuva Trust’s intervention proved critical. With the support of the lawyer and a judge sympathetic to Renu’s age and the nature of her case, she was able to give testimony. Other family members are now ready to give evidence.

Despite the traumatic incident, Renu continues her study in class 9. Gram Nehru Yuva Trust is in touch with her and doing regular counselling to help her come out from that trauma and supporting in legal aid in her case.

Names changed, Soni is not pictured.

Soni, a 15-year-old girl, was returning from her sister’s house when she was approached by two boys from her village. They offered her a lift home. As they were known to her, she trusted them. Unfortunately, they took her to a forest and sexually assaulted her for two days.

Once she managed to return home, she narrated the horrifying incident to her mother. Her physical state was a clear indication of the brutal assault. Her mother wanted to lodge a First Information Report (FIR) with the police, but many people advised against it to avoid public shame. Despite this, they decided to lodge the FIR.

Soni belongs to a lower middle-class family. Her father is a police constable and her mother is a homemaker. She has five elder sisters and is studying in the eighth grade.