Keep marriage age 18 for both boys, girls: Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) chairperson Sandhyabati Pradhan on Tuesday voiced concern against the plan to raise girls’ marriage age to 21 from 18.
In a letter to Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe, chairperson of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, Pradhan wrote “to consider not raising the legal age of marriage of girls to 21, rather keeping 18 as the minimum legal age for both boys and girls.”
OSCPCR is a statutory body and key stakeholder of the state government to end child marriage.
The Sahasrabuddhe led parliamentary panel is currently examining the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that proposes to raise girls marriage age to 21 and make it uniform for both boys and girls. The Bill was referred to the panel for further scrutiny after it was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 21
Arguing against raising the minimum age bar, the OSCPCR chief wrote that the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and scheme such Integrated Child Protection Scheme having the scope to extend support to vulnerable children only up to the age of 18. “In such circumstances there will be no space to provide support to a child bride/groom in between the age of 19 to 21 if rescued from child marriage,” she wrote.
“The POCSO Act has restricted consensual sex up to the age of 18. This implies that someone may have sexual act after 18 but won’t be able to marry till 21, will create new sets of issues like increasing unwed mothers and foeticide thereafter,” Pradhan added.
Stating that legislation alone has never been able to check child marriage, she pointed out the National Crime Record Bureau data that 785 cases were registered under Prohibition of Child Marriage in 2020, which was 523 in 2019 and 501 in 2018. On the other hand, National Family Health Survey 5 shows 23.3% girls were marrying before the legal age of 18, she wrote.
Pradhan argues that change of legislation in isolation will never be able to stop child marriage. Socio-behavioral change among parents and community is needed, she said. Factors such as distress and poverty, patriarchal norms and practices, lack of opportunity for schooling and jobs are still contributing to child marriage, she said.
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