Why every third Child bride in the World is still an Indian

July 23, 2017:

Around 75% of all child marriages took place in rural areas.

Over 10 crore Indians, including 8,50,00,000 girls, being married off before they turn 18.

Every 3rd child bride in the world is an Indian, according to a report.

Report ‘Eliminating Child Marriage in India’, was released by ActionAid India on Friday and analyses data on child marriages based on the 2011 Census.

Some improvement
Report found that there’d been some improvement in the marriage age, but India still accounted for about 33% of all child marriages in the world.

Of the India’s married female population, 30.2% had been child brides. Report also found that 75% of all child marriages took place in rural areas.

UP accounted for the highest % of child marriages in India at 16.6%.

In fact, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh accounted for 70% of all child marriages in India.
While releasing the report, Shabana Azmi, the chairperson of ActionAid India said that there’s a need to address the underlying causes of child marriage.

She said that “Patriarchy is at the root of child marriage & patriarchy has to be tackled to eliminate child marriages. Spreading education & building confidence among girls enables them to resist child marriage & chart their own lives.”