The focus should be on creating social awareness about women’s reproductive health and rights
Good intention does not guarantee favorable results. Coercive laws often fail without widespread social support, even when their motives and causes are aimed at the wider public good. within days of Union Cabinet approves proposal to increase the age of marriage for women From 18 to 21, the same age for men, the government listed it for legislative work in parliament this week. If passed, the various personal and faith-based laws that now govern marriages in India, including Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Special Marriage Act, 1954, And Child Marriage Prohibition Act, 2006, will have to be amended. In her budget speech last year, Finance Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the government would look at the age of the girl entering motherhood with an aim to reduce maternal mortality, improve nutrition levels as well as ensure opportunities to women. will constitute a task force for To pursue higher education and career. Keeping these goals in mind, a panel was constituted in June last year under the chairmanship of former Samata Party chief Jaya Jaitley. The panel submitted its report in December 2020, Although the aim looks good on paper, the aim is to raise the age of marriage without creating social awareness and improving access to health care. unlikely to benefit the community it seeks to serve: Young women who are not yet financially independent, who are unable to exercise their rights and freedoms under family and social pressures.
According to Ms. Jaitley, raising the age of marriage is one of its recommendations, which include a strong campaign to reform the patriarchal mindset and better access to education. According to the National Family Health Survey (2019-2021), 23.3% of women aged 20-24 are married before the age of 18, indicating that the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, has been completely successful in preventing child marriage. poor, especially among children. Women’s rights activists point out that parents often use the act to punish their daughters who marry against their will or run away to escape forced marriage, domestic abuse and lack of education facilities. Therefore, in a patriarchal system, it is more likely that changes in age limits will increase parental authority over young adults. A good, but not easy, way to achieve the stated objective is to counsel girls on early pregnancy and network them to improve their health. The focus should be on creating social awareness about women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, and ensuring that girls are not forced to drop out of school or college. Laws cannot be a shortcut in the path of social reform.
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