WUNRN
Direct Link to First Ever UN Human
Rights Council RESOLUTION ON CHILD, EARLY & FORCED MARRRIAGE - 2013
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Submission by Asmita Resource
Centre for Women of India, to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR)
Among the 107 countries that co-sponsored the UN Human
Rights Council Resolution on Early, Child and Forced Marriage, the
Government of
The Government of
As a response to the
data that shows that there is a high rate of child marriage in the country,
schemes have been introduced across the country. In the state of Andhra Pradesh
too, the situation is same. A basket of programmes including SABLA, Girl Child
Protection Scheme, Integrated Child Development Systems (ICDS) and Bangaru
Thalli Scheme have aimed at drawing adolescent girls into tertiary education
and vocational training. However, low levels of awareness of these programmes
have marred their effectiveness. Our investigations also showed that it is not
uncommon for girls to be married between 12-15 years among scheduled castes,
backward classes, fishing communities, some tribal communities and poor muslims
in
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, replaced the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929. The purpose of the Child Marriage Act, 2006, is not simply to restrain but prohibit child marriages. It lays down the minimum age for marriage as 21 for males and 18 for females. Section 3 of the Child Marriage Act, 2006, provides that a child marriage will be rendered voidable only if the children or their guardians file legal proceedings. It is unlikely that any such case will be filed given the societal norms that surround it. Thus, it is evident that the law itself needs to be looked at critically in order for the practice to be curbed. The law is further diluted by the existence of personal laws that are in conflict with the secular law. This creates loopholes for child marriage to continue despite a law being in place. In the state of Andhra Pradesh, the State Women’s Commission wrote to the Wakf Board demanding that the Qazi (Islamic priest) be accountable under the secular law. The board reacted strongly stating that the letter infringed on the personal laws of the community. The Wakf Board instead asked the government and the commission to focus on other pertinent issues plaguing the Muslim community.[3][3]
While there is a long history of resistance to pre-pubertal and mass
child marriages, one needs to re-examine the Child Marriage Act, 2006,
vis-à-vis the criminal law provisions of the IPC. The IPC fails to address the
discrepancy in the age of consent at the time of rape and the age of consent
for rape within a marriage, which constitutes discrimination against women –
especially married women – and has severe implications for child marriages in
Based on the rules issued by Andhra Pradesh government to implement the act of 2006, Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) have been made in the state. The response of the RTI on details of CMPO’s in the state, filed by Asmita Resource Centre for Women shows that there are 54,838 CMPOs in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (who are government officials) don’t necessarily know what their job is and sometimes even that they are prohibition officers.[5][5]
Based on the
observations in various consultations with NGO leaders, our partner
organization in
Our attempt has been to ensure wide spread awareness on the violation of human rights of the girl child through the practice of child marriage. This has been done through meetings to raise awareness on child marriage with all stakeholders in the project e.g. anganwadi teachers, school teachers, NGO workers at the grassroot level, government officials, local leaders and adolescent girls. Apart from this, collaboration with media professionals has resulted in an increase in reporting of child marriage. Through sanctioned media projects, 12 articles in Telugu and English were written by journalists in leading newspapers in the state that reached lakhs of people. We have also been attempting to articulate our experiences and get them suitably placed in mainstream media for public consumption. As the problem is layered, we find that the response has to be layered and cannot be restricted to merely strengthening and empowering the adolescent girl.
There is lack of convergence of the different ministries despite the issue of child marriage overlapping with labour, migration, education, violence and health. So for the Ministry of Women and Child to deal with the issue alone is counter-productive. Many cases have been reported where child brides have been denied admission in schools which forces her back into the domestic space. A directive must be issued ensuring that child brides are not denied their right to schooling. Education is one of the ways to ensure that the girl child can be empowered and strengthened.
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Subject: Resolution Against Child, Early & Forced Marriage - UN
Rights Council
WUNRN
UN Human Rights Council Countries Adopt First-Ever
Resolution on Child, Early and Forced Marriage
Over 100 countries supported a resolution on child, early and forced
marriage unanimously adopted by the Human Rights Council, the leading UN body
responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights around the world.
This the first Human Rights Council resolution which specifically addresses
child marriage. It is significant because it recognises child marriage as a
human rights violation and calls for its elimination to be considered in the
post-2015 development agenda. Also notable is that a number of countries with
high rates of child marriage supported its passage.
Photo credit: UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre
The
resolution recognises child, early and forced marriage as a human rights
violation that “prevents individuals from living their lives free from all
forms of violence” and negatively impacts the “right to education, and the
highest attainable standard of health, including sexual and reproductive
health.”
It
received cross-regional support from 107 different countries, including
countries with high rates of child marriage including Ethiopia, South Sudan,
Sierra Leone, Chad, Guatemala, Honduras and Yemen.
The
Ambassador of Sierra Leone, Yvette Stevenes, introduced the resolution to the Human Rights Council,
stating that “efforts [to end child marriage] need to be strenghtened to
address this breach of human rights of some of the most vulnerable groups in
society”. According to UNICEF, 44% of girls are married before the age of 18 in
Sierra Leone; 18% before the age of 15.
The
resolution is a welcome development in global efforts to prevent and eliminate
the practice of child, early and forced marriage, especially as discussions are
underway to define what a new development agenda for the international
community will look like when the Millennium Development Goals come to an end
in 2015. The resolution recognises that: “the elimination of child, early and
force marriage should be considered in the discussion of the post-2015
development agenda”.
The
resolution also stresses the value of empowering and investing in women and
girls for “breaking the cycle of gender inequality and discrimination, violence
and poverty” and for bringing about “sustainable development and economic
growth.”
It
acknowledges the multi-faceted impact of child, early and forced marriage on
the “economic, legal, health and social status of women and girls” as well as
“the development of the community as a whole”.
The
Human Rights Council is the leading UN body responsible for the promotion and
protection of human rights around the world. The resolution calls for a panel
discussion on the issue of child, early and forced marriage at an upcoming
session of the Human Rights Council in 2014.
This
resolution comes at a timely moment following the gathering of world leaders
and governments at the 68th session of the UN General Assembly to
discuss priorities for the international community. The two-week long event
already saw several
countries commit to taking an active part in efforts to end child marriage
globally.
In
a recent
report reflecting on a new development agenda, UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon emphasised that to achieve equal rights for women and girls “the
practice of child marriage must be ended everywhere”.
Read
the resolution: English, Français, Español, Arabic.
The
States presenting the resolution were: Argentina, Australia, Austria,
Armenia, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia,
Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Congo, Cuba, Czech
Republic, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Djibouti, DRC,
Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea,
Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti,
Hungary, Honduras, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan,
Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lebanon, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Morocco, Mozambique, Maldives,
Montenegro, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palestine,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia,
Singapore, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Timor Leste, Togo, Tunisia, Thailand, Turkey,
United Kingdom, Uganda, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen,
Zambia.