Child Marriage in India

To be defined at length in a later section, youngster union is most simply, for our purposes, a espousal in which the wife is be let out the age of eighteen at the measure of consummation. The exert of pip-squeak unification in unpolished India is deeply root in cultural values and grounded in fond structures. And despite laws that repeal fry hymeneals ceremony, the reading is lock in highly prevalent in galore(postnominal) regions. Though the statistics be contentious, it is estimated that in some parts of India, like the press out of Rajasthan, n early(a) 80 percent of the espousals ar among misss chthonic the age of xv (Gupta, 2005, p. ). In India overall, roughly 47. 6 percent of girls ar conjoin by the age of eighteen (The implications of early marriage, 2004).Despite transnational human rights efforts, the eradication of claw marriage is greatly hindered by the intertwined social issues that often lease to and be then in turn pay backd by the practice. mixed underlying social factors inform why fry marriage exists, including handed-down gender norms the value of virginity and p bental c formerlyrns surrounding premarital sex impel of marriage transactions (or dowries) and poverty (Amin, Chong, & Haberland, 2007).The social outcomes of infant marriage are withal signifi sack upt, and often devastate communities in which these practices take place. Societies in which fry marriage takes place cod higher rates of early childbearing, uncalled-for pregnancies, maternal and infant mortality, sexually transmitted diseases (including human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS) and unsafe abortions.Additionally, teen girls laid in child marriages are often deprived of prefatorial health care and health information, and achieve passing low educational attainment (Mathur, Greene, & Malhotra, 2003, p. 11 Bruce, 2007 Amin, Chong, & Haberland, 2007). Apart from these health and societal consequences, such marriages also affect girl s individual experience as social actors. Early marriage blackballly affects girls social networks, termination-making power, and ability to negotiate with partnersall of which do puzzle out the health and well being of the individual (Bruce, 2007). In many steerings, the social issues that emerge from the practice of child marriage also serve to reinforce itcreating a vicious cycle.This cyclical pattern is just unmatched fountain why the practice has yet to be eradicated despite international compact and legal interventions. Each of the problems that informs child marriage intersects in complex ways and the result is an incessant and engrossing problem that impacts all aspects of the social worlds in which it takes place, from the well-being of the individual girls to the economic, political, and cultural structures of universal Indian society. What is most imperative just about child marriages in India, however, is the relationship amongst child marriage and the increa singly severe Indian human immunodeficiency virus epidemic.The rates of human immunodeficiency virus in India are a topic of great debate between the Indian presidential term and both Indian and International NGOs. Yet, thither is a consensus that HIV, once an urban phenomenon in India that was primarily transmitted indoors high-risk creations is nowadays gaining momentum in rural areas (Fears Over India, 2005). These trends are alarming and nonify that the cultural contexts in which these HIV rates are climbing invite to be addressed.Additionally, juvenile research has found links between HIV and early marriage in communities across the globe. The majority of sexually quick girls age 15-19 in lifting countries are married, and married adolescent girls consort to have higher rates of HIV infection than their sexually active, single peers (The implications of early marriage, 2004, p. 1 Clark, Bruce, & Dude, 2006, p. 79). HIV/AIDS in India The Indian HIV/AIDS epidemic is r elatively red-hot, and, once limited to high-risk urban nations, HIV is rapidly emerging as a problem for general communities within Indian society (Fears Over India, 2005).HIV/AIDS is graceful widespread, and as it reaches new commonwealths, it poses new problems. As child marriage is essentially a rural phenomenon in India, the particular plight of HIV in rural areas must be discussed. Issues like how to educate and provide manipulation for peck in despicable, rural areas are emerging, and new cultural pockets of Indian society must be unders as well asd in influence to to a greater extent effectively implement these programs. Though contentious, recent figures estimate that roughly 2-3. 6 million people in India are infected with HIV.This places India third worldwide for the number of HIV cases within a country. Overall, 0. 36% of Indias population is living with HIV. While this may seem low, inducen the vast population of India, the actual number of people who are H IV-positive is remarkably high (Overview of HIV/AIDS, 2008). And in Rajasthan, the largely rural state in which the project ordain be conducted, it is believed that there is a prevalence of nearly 5%extremely high for India (AIDS in India, n/d). Many who work in the health sector claim that they are witnessing a rapid rise up in infections to new populations.Sujatha Rao, director-general of the governments issue AIDS curb Organisation, says doctors are increasingly seeing women infected by their husbands, a population typically not targeted by reproductive health programs (Vast Distances a Barrier, 2008 Santhya & Jejeebhoy, Early marriage, 2007). There is also evidence that knowledge of HIV is extremely low in the rural areas where the study will be conducted, peculiarly among women. The National Family Health Survey reports that to a greater extentover 19% of ever-married rural Rajasthani women senior(a) 15-49 had ever heard of AIDS, compared to 65% of their male counterpar t.Aside from the gender variance of knowledge across India, however, a rural/urban dichotomy was especially pronounced among women (2005-2006 National Family-Rajasthan 2005-2006 National Family-India). This lack of knowledge unsurprisingly also appears to figure out behavior. Among currently married rural women, aged 15-49, only 38% use any modern method of family planning, compared to 55. 8% of their urban counterparts. More importantly, only 3. 1% of married rural women have used a golosh (the only method in the analysis that would shelter against HIV), compared to 13. 3% of urban married women.Furthermore, only 14. % of ever-married rural women (ages 15-49) knew that consistent condom use can reduce the changes of HIV/AIDS, in comparison to 61. 6% of their urban counterparts (2005-2006 National Family-Rajasthan 2005-2006 National Family-India). A recent New York Times member reports that the rural problem of HIV is made more pronounced by the difficulties that HIV-positive p eople in rural communities face when attempting to get tested and treated. Many patients turn long distances each month to receive government-sponsored antiretrovirals, but the cost and age required for such a journey is difficult for many to achieve.In consequence, many patients simply transcend up on treatment, an anathema in HIV therapy as it gives rise to drug resistance. One doctor notes, last can affect drug compliance. Patients who dont get family support, women who may not like to travel along will just give up (Vast Distances a Barrier, 2008). Child Marriage For the purposes of our discussion, child marriage is identified as a marriage that takes place before pack age 18a definition adhered to by UNICEF and other international organizations (Bruce, 2007).This definition is at odds with the definition provided by Indias recent Pr chargetion of Child Marriage Bill, which states that a child is a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not complete eighteen years of age (The Prevention of Child Marriage Bill, 2004). While this discrepancy will be analyzed further below, given(p) that eighteen is largely considered the age of consent, it is this standard to which our definition will be held. It should be noted that the betrothal of a marriage can run into at any time, and often will occur at birth. alone that marriage is not defined as a child marriage un little the wife is given to her spousal family, and the marriage is consummated, before she reaches the age of eighteen. Furthermore, as most child marriages take place among girls who are minors, with male partners who are of age, whenever the term child marriage is used in this project, it is referring to a marriage that involves a female child. Child marriage has not been ignored by Indian or international policymakers, yet enforcement of these laws has been virtually impossible.The Indian government is often portrayed as uncomfortable when deali ng with personal laws within distinct communities that are not derived from grassroots movements (Burns, 1998 Yadav, 2006, p. 7). Despite this, laws have been on the books for over a decade. In 1994, a Marriage Bill was introduced which recommendedthe portraying of a uniform law relating to marriages and provided for the compulsory registration of marriages, with the aim of preventing child marriages and also polygamy in society. Yet, this law did not pass and in Rajasthan, to this day, there is no compulsory marriage registration (Yadav, 2006, p. 0).This legislation has been preceded by motley attempts to limit the practice and legislate the age at which girls are married. In the 1880s, discussions of the first Age of Consent Bill began, and finally, in 1927, it was declared that marriages with a girl under twelve would be invalid. In 1929, India began to prohibit the practice of all child marriage by instituting the Child Marriage obstruction Act. In 1978, the Child Marriage R estraint Act was amended to grade eighteen and twenty-one years as the age of marriage for a girl and boy respectively (Yadav, 2006, p. 7).Due to the illegality of child marriage, the number of girls who are put into child marriage in Rajasthan is extremely difficult to know. And especially due to differing definition employed by researches, no consensus yet exists among those who have tried to obtain a number. Researchers claim that, in Rajasthan, the number of girls married off before age eighteen is somewhere between 55. 5% and 80% and other researchers estimate that roughly 56% of Rajasthani marriages occur with girls under the age of fifteen (Yadav, 2006, pl. 10 Burns, 1998).Therefore, there is overwhelming evidence that child marriage is occurring in Rajasthan in large numbers, despite the laws against it. Why is child marriage occurring? What social, cultural, and economic contexts inform the persistence of this practice? Some imprecate that Rajasthani people either do not understand the law or simply ignore it (Yadav, 2006, p. 37). In a New York Times article outlining the practice of child marriage in Rajasthan, it was stated that Each year, glob warnings are posted outside state government offices stating that child marriages are illegal, but they have little impact.In a discussion with a village elder in Rajasthan, the elder stated, Of course, we know that marrying children is against the law, but its only a paper law (Burns, 1998). Therefore, he suggests that the law is sensed as unimportant, allowing families to simply ignore it, and often without penalty. Additionally, cultural and social contexts still highly value this practice and Indian families often turn to child marriage to help cope with social conditions in disrepair. To approach this, I will first discuss the gender norms in India. How are women comprehend? What are the practical implications of these norms?Secondly, I will discuss the value placed on virginity and understandings o f premarital sex. Thirdly, I will discuss the economic factors that stay fresh to promote the practice. And finally, I will briefly discuss the major consequences of child marriage, which will move us into a discussion of the links between child marriage and HIV. Child marriage is deeply embedded in ideals about the role of women and the status of girls in Indian culture (Gupta, 2005, p. 3). Understandings of the Indian family and a wifes role more generally give huge amounts of insight to the status of women.Within the context of a patrilocal family ideology, girls are reared to be obedient, selfsacrificing, modest, nurturant, hardworking and internal loving. In an interview with Seymour in the 1960s, one Indian gentleman expressed, American girls are given too much independence. A girl should marry young, before she has the chance to develop independent ideals. By marrying girls young (and enhancing the disparity between her and her husbands age), the male-based hierarchy is b est preserved (Seymour, 1999, p. 55). Males are quite simply wanted more in Indian families.They act as the head of the household, the breadwinners and the decision makers. These values are imbued from an early age and as the transition to maturity is marked with marriage, these gender norms become particularly pronounced (Segal, 1999, p. 216 Gupta, 2005, p. 1 Yadav, 2006, p. 1 Seymour, 1999, p. 97). A womans primary role in the home is to produce sons, as this will bring innocence to her family, and an heir for her husband. In a society that stresses patrilineal descent, to bear children, especially sons, is critical, and girls learn from an early age that this is their responsibility (Seymour, 1999, p. 7).Motherhood is additionally critical in order to establish the wife as a member of her husbands family. As Indian families take collective care of children, producing a new family member is heavily prized and brings the newlywed status (Seymour, 1999, p. 99). How do women feel about their status and role in society? Seymour writes that, Women are the moving pieces in an exchange system that creates extensive webs of kinship. Is this a hardship for them? Yes, for they must snuff it the security of their own family and join a different family. Do they convalesce it oppressive?Sometimes, but not generally (Seymour, 1999, p. xvi). Though others argue that cultural dictation of female role and lack of continued financial and activated support, predominantly from spouses and other family members, were influential factors in high rates of depression among women (Jambunathan, 1992). The low value of girls is also reflected in traditions of female infanticide and abortions of female children and research that shows that women are by and large neglected by Indian society, resulting in scurvy health care and a high number of preventable deaths (Miller, 1981, p. 8 Segal, 1999, p. 218-220).In one survey, 52% of Indians said that they would get a antenatal diagnos is to select a male, as opposed to 30% who would in Brazil, 29% in Greece and 20% in Turkey (Segal, 1999, p. 219). These patterns have resulted in a worsening sex ratio in Rajasthan. It is estimated that between 750 to 850 girls are born per 1000 boys, a problem that not only reinforces these negative ideals about gender, but also could potentially be devastating to the senior status of Indian communities (Indian Census, 2001 Kristof, 1991).An Indian obstetrician interviewed for The Hindu stated that these days, it is extremely high-flown to see a family with two little girls, and some families do not even have one. In communities like Rajasthan, people want to pretend they are modern and that they do not discriminate between a girl and a boy. Yet, they will not hesitate to quietly go to the next village and get an ultrasound done (Thapar, 2007). And in a bid by UNICEF, the organization says that for most of the female fetuses that survive, birth is the only advert opportunity they will ever get (Segal, 1999, p. 20).Additionally, child marriage is greatly informed by ideals of virginitya cultural notion that has huge impacts on the intersections between HIV/AIDS and child marriage. An unmarried, chaste girl symbolizes family honor and purity and is considered a sacred gift to bestow upon another family (Seymour, 1999, p. 55). To exacerbate the outcome of these ideals, myths supposedly abound that men can be corned of various diseases, including gonorrhea, mental illness, syphilis and HIV by having sex with a fresh girl, a virgin. Bhat, Send, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 17 Burns, 1998) But as much as cultural ideals are echoed in the practice, tradition has been reinforced by unavoidableness (Burns, 1998). Poverty is often cited as one of the major factors contributing to child marriage (Bhat, Sen, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 15). Child marriage is more prevalent in scummy household and in sorry communities. Almost all countries in which more than 50 percent of girl s are married before the age of 18 have GDP per capita under $2000 per year (Gupta, 2005, p. 3).For families in poverty, marrying a daughter early can mean lower dowry payments and one less mouth to feed (Bhat, Sen, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 16). An coronation in girls is seen as a anomic investment because the girl leaves to join another home and her economic contributions are to that homeso the earlier she is married, the less of a loss the investment (Gupta, 2005, p. 3).What is devastating about the child marriage problem, beyond the human rights abuses, is the way in which it impacts both the individual and the community and the manner in which the practice reinforces itself. Impoverished parents often believe that child marriage will protect their daughters. In fact, however, it results in lost development opportunities, limited life options, and poor health (Child marriage fact sheet, 2005). Child marriage continues to be immersed in a vicious cycle of poverty, low educational att ainment, high incidences of disease, poor sex ratios, the subordination of women, and most significantly, the inter-generational cycles of all of these (Bhat, Sen, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 21 Gupta, p. 1-2).