ICWO-A2J-CMFI partners in India & Plan to end Child Marriage by 2030

Citing the key findings of a report that highlights the status and role of legal action and prosecution in ending child marriages in India, Indian Community Welfare Organisation – ICWO working in Salem & Chennai of Tamilnadu said that prosecution is the key to ending child marriage by 2030 The report titled ‘Towards Justice: Ending Child Marriage’ is prepared by the India Child Protection research team. Indian Community Welfare Organisation – ICWO and India Child Protection are both coalition partners of Child Marriage Free India and have together been working across the country to end child marriage by 2030. As per the National Family Health – V data, Salem & Chennai registered a [Percentage] percent of child marriage while the national average stands at 23.3 percent. The NGO further appealed to the government to ensure that perpetrators of this crime are punished so that the fear of law acts as a deterrent against child marriage. 

The report reveals the urgency required in the legal system across the country to end child marriage. In 2022, out of the total 3,563 child marriage cases listed for trial in courts, a mere 181 cases were successfully concluded, showing a pendency rate of 92 percent. The report states that the country may take 19 years to clear the backlog of cases at the current rate of trial completion. 

The report, among other highlights, shows an 81 per cent reduction in the instances of child marriage across 20 districts of Assam between 2021-22 and 2023-24. The data, which was collected from National Crime Records Bureau and 1,132 villages across 20 districts in Assam reveals that the state has witnessed the complete eradication of child marriage in 30 percent of its villages, while 40 percent have reported a significant decline in the once-rampant practice of child marriage.

While citing the report, the NGO highlighted how legal intervention with the support of government authorities has been making a marked difference in the cases of child marriage here as well. Throwing further light on this, A.J.Hariharan, Secretary - ICWO, Indian Community Welfare Organisation, said, “This report by India Child Protection clearly shows the importance of prosecution and legal intervention. We have been working relentlessly to ensure that we generate awareness, counsel families and communities about child marriage as a crime and use legal intervention whenever we cannot prevent a child marriage from taking place. Enforcement is the key to ending child marriage and together we need to follow this to ensure the end of child marriage.”

Child Marriage Free India, of which India Child Protection is a part, is a nationwide campaign started in 2022 and presently has almost 200 NGO partners working across the country as per the action plan enumerated in Bhuwan Ribhu’s bestseller ‘When Children Have Children: Tipping Point to End Child Marriage.’ Notably, the CMFI partners successfully prevented 14,137 child marriages in 2023-24 by using legal interventions and prevented 59,364 child marriages with the help of panchayats. 

Talking about the efficacy of the Assam government’s legal strategy to tackle child marriage in the state, Ravi Kant, Convenor, Child Marriage Free India, said, “This report proves that prosecution is the key to ending child marriage and the success of Assam model in its state is a huge leap in the right direction. Now we need to take this forward and implement it in the rest of the country to end this crime against children.”

Citing the report findings, he further said, “The conviction rate in child marriage cases is an area of concern, given its disheartening statistics. In 2022, a mere 11 percent of these cases resulted in convictions, contrasting sharply with the overall conviction rate of 34 percent for all crimes committed against children during that year. This highlights the need for thorough and rigorous investigation and court trials in child marriage cases. This will serve as a deterrent, signalling to communities that child marriage is a serious offense with tangible legal consequences.”

Two of the key recommendations highlighted in the report are creation of fast track courts to clear the backlog and secondly, punishment should be doubled and treated as equivalent to criminal conspiracy for rape to the parents, guardians or panchayats who had provided an undertaking.

Paroma Bhattacharya, 99109 40551, 99109 40551

A.J.Hariharan, Secretary – ICWO, 98401-88821 / 86101-55727