Ending Child Marriage a Profile of Progress in India 2 I Ending Child Marriage: a Profile of Progress in India Child Marriage in the Global Development Agenda
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Ending Child Marriage A profile of progress in India 2 I Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India Child marriage in the global development agenda Child marriage is a violation of human rights. Every SDG: 5 child has the right to be protected from this harmful Achieve gender equality practice, which has devastating consequences and empower all women and girls for individuals and for society. Child marriage is now firmly on the global development agenda, TARGET 5.3 INDICATOR 5.3.1 most prominently through its inclusion in Sustainable Eliminate all harmful Proportion of women aged Development Goal (SDG) target 5.3, which aims to practices, such as child, 20 to 24 years who were early and forced marriage married or in a union before eliminate the practice by 2030. Although indicator and female genital mutilation age 15 and before age 18 5.3.1 measures child marriage among girls, the practice occurs among boys as well. Regardless of gender, marriage before adulthood is a breach of children’s rights. Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India I 3 Key facts One in three of the world’s child brides live in India. Of the country’s 223 million child brides, 102 million were married before turning 15. Over half of Indian child brides live in five states: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, 5 West Bengal, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh is home to the largest population of child brides, with 36 million. Approximately one in four young women in India were married or in union before their 18th birthday. The prevalence of child marriage varies across states and union territories in India. Over 40 per cent of young women were married before turning 18 in Bihar and West Bengal, compared to less than 5 per cent in Lakshadweep. A girl’s risk of child marriage depends on certain background characteristics. Girls who live in rural areas or come from poorer households are at greater risk, and a higher proportion of child brides are found among those with little or no education. 4 I Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India The majority of young women who married in childhood gave birth as adolescents. Child brides go on to have larger families compared to women who marry later. The practice of child marriage is less common today than in previous generations. There is evidence of accelerating progress over the last decade. India’s progress is strong compared to other countries in South Asia. Nonetheless, if child marriage is to be eliminated by 2030, additional efforts will be required. Child marriage is less common among boys than girls, and the practice among boys could be eliminated by 2030 if progress is accelerated. Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India I 5 Current state of child India is home to 223 million child brides marriage among girls World 650 million South Asia 285 million One in three of the world’s child brides live in India. Of the country’s 223 million child brides, 102 million were married before turning 15 223 India million 102 million 121 million Girls and women were married Girls and women were married at or after = 10 million before age 15 in India age 15 but before age 18 in India FIG. 1 Number of girls and women who were first married or in union before age 18, India, South Asia and the world NOTE: Due to rounding, individual figures may not add up to total. 6 I Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India Uttar Pradesh, Other states and union territories, 16 million 36 million Assam, 5 million Chhattisgarh, 5 million Odisha, 7 million Over half of Indian Jharkhand, 7 million child brides live in Telangana, 8 million Bihar, five states: Uttar 22 million Pradesh, Bihar, West Gujarat, 10 million Bengal, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Karnataka, 10 million Uttar Pradesh is West Bengal, home to the largest Tamil Nadu, 11 million 22 million population of child brides, with 36 million Andhra Praesh, 13 million Maharashtra, Rajasthan, 15 million 20 million Madhya Pradesh, 16 million FIG. 2 Number of girls and women who were first married or in union before age 18, by state NOTE: Geographical boundaries follow the National Family Health Survey, 2015-2016. State populations are estimated using data from the Census of India 2011 and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2017. Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India I 7 India ranks fourth among the eight South Asian countries in terms of child marriage prevalence % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 World South Asia 21 30 Maldives Sri Lanka Pakistan Bhutan Afghanistan Nepal Bangladesh 4 10 21 26 35 40 59 India 27 FIG. 3 Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union before age 18, countries in South Asia and regional and world averages 8 I Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India Levels vary across India: More than 40 per cent Jammu and Kashmir of young women were 9 married in childhood in Himanchal Pradesh Punjab 9 Bihar (43 per cent) and 8 Uttarakhand West Bengal (42 per Haryana 14 Delhi 19 Arunachal Pradesh cent) compared to 2 per 15 Sikkim 28 15 cent in Lakshadweep Uttar Pradesh Nagaland Rajasthan Assam 21 Bihar 33 14 36 Meghalaya 43 Manipur 18 14 Jharkhand Gujarat Mizoram Madhya Pradesh 38 West Bengal 42 26 33 11 Chhattisgarh Tripura 21 Odisha 33 Daman and Diu 22 25 Maharashtra 26 Dadra and Nagar Haveli Telangana 30 27 Goa 10 Andhra Pradesh 34 Andaman and Above 40% Karnataka Nicobar Islands 24 18 31% - 40% Lakshadweep Puducherry 2 Tamil Nadu 21% - 30% 11 Kerala 16 11% - 20% 8 10% or less NOTE: This map does not reflect a position by UNICEF FIG. 4 Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union before on the legal status of any country or territory or the age 18, by state or union territory delimitation of any frontiers. Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India I 9 Girls most at risk of Child brides in India are more likely to live in poor households, have less education child marriage and reside in rural areas 100 90 80 70 60 51 47 50 46 40 37 32 29 29 30 20 20 18 10 10 4 0 No education Primary Secondary Higher Poorest Fourth Middle Second Richest Rural Urban Education Wealth quintile Residence Married before age 15 Married at or after age 15 but before age 18 FIG. 5 Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union before ages 15 and 18, by education, wealth quintile and residence 10 I Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India Education The largest No education Primary Secondary Higher disparities in the prevalence of 30 25 32 29 19 18 4 2 child marriage Richest are found across Wealth quintile Wealth women with 38 34 38 38 27 23 4 3 different levels Second of education 49 41 45 46 31 28 6 6 Middle 52 47 50 45 34 32 8 2 Fourth 56 51 52 49 36 34 9 (5) Poorest Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Residence FIG. 6 Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union before age 18, by education, wealth quintile and residence NOTE: The value in parentheses is based on 25-49 unweighted cases. Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India I 11 Smaller disparities in child marriage prevalence are found across women from different religious groups and castes/tribes Religion Caste/Tribe 100 100 90 90 80 80 70 70 60 60 50 50 49 40 38 40 34 31 30 30 28 27 (27) 30 27 21 21 20 18 20 8 10 6 10 0 0 Other Hindu Muslim No Buddhist/ Christian Sikh Jain Don’t Scheduled No caste/ Scheduled Other Other caste/ religion Neo-Buddhist know tribe tribe caste backward tribe class Married before age 15 Married at or after age 15 but before age 18 FIG. 7 Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were first married or in union before ages 15 and 18, by religion and caste/tribe NOTE: Only categories with 25 or more unweighted cases are presented. The value in parentheses is based on 25-49 unweighted cases. “Scheduled castes” and “scheduled tribes” are officially designated groups by the Indian Government, referring to the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. 12 I Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India State-level overview 100 The states featured on 90 this page have the highest 80 prevalence of child marriage 70 in the country (Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan 60 and Andhra Pradesh), the 50 43 42 largest population of child 38 36 40 34 33 brides (Bihar, West Bengal, 30 26 Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra 21 and Uttar Pradesh) or both 20 (Bihar, West Bengal). 10 0 Bihar West Bengal Jharkhand Rajasthan Andhra Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Uttar Pradesh Married before age 15 FIG. 8 Percentage of women aged 20 to 24 years who were first Married at or after age 15 but married or in union before ages 15 and 18, selected states before age 18 Education No education Higher than secondary Wealth quintile Poorest Richest Residence Rural Urban 100 100 100 90 90 90 80 80 80 7070 7070 70 6060 60 60 5050 50 50 4040 40 40 3030 30 30 2020 20 20 1010 1010 10 00 0 0 Bihar Bihar Bihar Rajasthan Rajasthan Rajasthan Jharkhand Jharkhand Jharkhand Maharashtra Maharashtra Maharashtra West Bengal West Bengal West Bengal West UttarPradesh UttarPradesh UttarPradesh Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh Madhya FIG.