We must speak out against child marriage

Representational image. Pic/iStock

A Muslim women's rights organisation fighting for equality headlined a conference on child marriage recently. The conference was to raise awareness about child marriage in the community, where girls as young as 14 were being married off to boys sometimes under the age of 21.

Those fighting for rights stated that the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 must unambiguously mention that this law is applicable to the Muslim community too. That the Muslim community is not exempt.

That was the legal part. What hit home though were personal stories from women married off young and the crushing toll it took on their mental and physical health. From not being mature enough to understand the relationship, to being deprived of a childhood and education, the women spoke from their heart. Some of them claimed that very young boys suffer too, when married off. These girls became mothers and they were naturally unprepared for all that comes with the role. They, in fact, claimed that it was like a child having a child.

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This should show us just how harmful child marriage is, and though it may be definitely more common in rural areas, it happens in cities too. While this was community-centric, since it had to do with the law, some children are still married off illegally in other communities.

As the Muslim community presses on with the legal route, we need to speak out and spread awareness. Talk about the malaise in schools and colleges and even start these conversations, so that people know just how abhorrent this practice is. While laws are needed, society too must be alive to these problems so that both legal and social changes go side by side, and mindsets begin to change.

Child marriage is heinous, exploitative and criminal. It robs victims of any agency and leaves them embittered. Speak out now.