Essay on Child Marriage: An age-old evil practice called child marriage still prevails in India, which is surging on its way to become a superpower, but it is a startling reality.
According to a United Nations report, India has the second-highest number of child marriages. According to the statistics, the State of Uttar Pradesh has the highest incidence of child marriage at 68%, followed by Bihar and Rajasthan.
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Long and Short Essays on Child Marriage for Students and Kids in English
We are providing students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic of Child Marriage for reference.
Long Essay on Child Marriage 500 Words in English
Long Essay on Child Marriage is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.
As per Indian law, a boy before the age of 21 and a girl before 18 are not considered eligible to marry. Any such disobedience is regarded as unlawful and is a punishable offence and considered as child marriage. However, the law is relatively new of terming child marriage as a punishable offence, coming into existence just a few years before India gained its independence from the British rule. Before, child marriage was an accepted social practice prevalent in almost all parts of the country.
The origin of child marriage was commonly believed and practised worldwide before the 19th century. Girls were required to be married off as soon as they attained puberty. A reference is found in the Dharamsatra as well. Similarly, before a boy attained the age of 16 years was also required to be married off.
The practice of offering gifts and wealth to the groom’s family is known as dowry, and the association of dowry with child marriage has been in India for a long time. A common dowry practice is found across all religions in India and is often correlated to the bride’s age. In other words, the demand for dowry will increase with the increase in the bride’s age. This fear of more dowry for more age has led to more pervasiveness of child marriage in India. Additionally, the major factor in driving people towards child marriage has been poverty.
During the rule of the British, the first law came against child marriage in India. In 1929, the British government came up with the Child Marriage Restraint Act, which was later named the Sarda Act. The marriage of girls under the age of 18 years and boys under the age of 21 years was by this law prohibited. On 1 April 1930, this act was enacted upon the entire country except for some states such as Jammu and Kashmir and Hyderabad. Initially, three months of imprisonment was proposed by the act, and in the years 1940 and 1978, the act was further amended.
Some shortcomings were found in the Child Marriage Restraint act. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act introduction in the year 2006 addressed all these shortcomings. Under this law, the girls and the boys forced into marriage were provided with the option of terming their marriage as void, and the dowry so given was returned to the bride’s family.
According to the NCRB(National Crime Records Bureau) information, an aggregate number of 169, 222, and 280 cases have been enlisted under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) 2006, 2012, 2013, and 2014 individually.
Not all practices prevalent in society were meant to the upliftment of the people. With time some of them were needed to be changed. Child Marriage is one such practice that should be stopped at any cost. However, only by enacting laws, this cannot be possible. The people of the country should oppose it whenever they encounter such practices and equally support the government. Only we can be successful in abolishing the practice of child marriage altogether throughout the country.
Short Essay on Child Marriage 150 Words in English
Short Essay on Child Marriage is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
The origin of child marriage was commonly believed and practised worldwide before the 19th century. As per Indian law, a boy before the age of 21 and a girl before 18 are not considered eligible to marry. Any such disobedience is regarded as unlawful and is a punishable offence and considered as child marriage.
The practice of offering gifts and wealth to the groom’s family is known as dowry. The demand for dowry will increase with the increase in the bride’s age. This fear of more dowry for more age has led to more pervasiveness of child marriage in India.
During the rule of the British, the first law came against child marriage in India. In 1929, the British government came up with the Child Marriage Restraint Act, which was later named the Sarda Act.
The people of the country should oppose it whenever they encounter such practices and equally support the government. Only we can be successful in abolishing the practice of child marriage altogether throughout the country.
10 Lines on Child Marriage in English
1. More than one and a half crore girls are married under 19 years in India, and almost thirty-three thousand girls get married every day across the globe.
2. The incapability of producing a legally valid consent is found from the study; in girls, those get married too young and are found more helpless to violence and sexual abuse.
3. More than 145 million girls will be married and will become child brides by 2020, according to the United NationsPopulation Fund (UNFPA).
4. Reportedly, pregnancy and childbirth complications are the leading cause of death in young women aged 15-19.
5. According to UNICEF, one-third of the childbrides of the world are from India. The top 5 nations in the world that have the highest observed child marriage rates are Niger (75%), Chad (72%), Mali (71%), Bangladesh(64%), and Guinea (63%), according to UNICEF.
6. Data shows that in India, more than six million children are born to girls under 19. One in every six girls in the age group of15-19 have started bearing children.
7. Around 5.2 million children are born to girls between 15-19 years of age, and around 780,000 children in India are born to a
8. girl under 15.
9. According to reports, most Indian child brides come from low-income families and are usually from rural regions with little education.
10. The number of women who died due to pregnancy and childbirth declined slightly from 254 in 2006 to 210 in 2009.
FAQ’s on Child Marriage Essay
Question 1.
What are the causes of child marriage in India?
Answer:
Child marriages often occurred due to various reasons, including Poverty, Insecurity, Political and financial reasons, Lack of education, Patriarchy and gender inequalities, and inadequate implementation of the law.
Question 2.
How many child marriages happen in India?
Answer:
A study says at least 1.5 million girls under 18 get married in India, making it home to the largest number of child brides in the world.
Question 3.
Is child marriage common in India?
Answer:
India stated zero married girls below the age of 10, and child marriages are prevalent in India.
Question 4.
Where is child marriage most common in India?
Answer:
India produces over half of child brides live in five states: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. Uttar Pradesh is home to the largest population of child brides, with 36 million.