Help us protect 60 girl children from becoming child brides

The issue of Child Marriage

The legal age for marriage in India is 18 years for girls and 21 years for boys. Breaking this law is punishable but that does not stop child marriage from being rampant across the country even in this day and age. Although child marriage affects both boys and girls, in most cases, it is the girl children that are affected the most. Child marriage denies children their basic rights to good health, nutrition, education, and freedom from violence, abuse and exploitation. According to the 2011 census, there are close to 15 million girls who are married before the legal age every year.

Through our programmes, we try to sensitise communities in villages towards the ill effects of child marriage on a regular basis. Additionally, we constantly work with the panchayat, influential government officials and most importantly, parents to encourage girl children to go to school. With our efforts, we try to rewire mindsets to create a sustainable long term change.

With the help of partners and our well-wishers, we have managed to stop the practice of child marriage in 206 villages and slums last year. Help us save a 60 more.

In Banispur village (Bihar), most girls who leave their school after Class VIII, are also forced to leave their childhood behind. As an unsaid norm that most families follow, looking for a groom for a girl child begins as soon as she crosses 13 years of age. Along with the noise of these forced wedding celebrations in Banispur, one can also hear a soft yet hopeful voice that says, “Main acchi doctor banna chahti hu”. This is the voice of Julie Kumari.

Julie was studying in Class IX when she overheard her father talking about getting her married to someone soon. Juile was devastated. She didn’t want to imagine a day of her life without going to school as she still had a lot left to learn. Knowing she had a difficult battle ahead of her, one that surely can’t be fought alone, she reached out to CRY’s on ground project partner. This decision that Julie took ended up changing a lot of girls’ lives in her village. Fortunately, CRY’s partner had already initiated a children’s group in the village called the Munna - Munni Manch. Their staff immediately got involved and a series of discussions later, to Julie’s relief, the wedding was finally called off.

But her battle wasn’t over, all her relatives and the entire village demanded for answers from her parents as they went against the tide. To everyone’s surprise, the person who single handedly answered every question was Julie’s mother. Thanks to the capacity building sessions with CRY, Julie’s mother had also gained the confidence to fight for her daughter. Her confidence or faith didn’t falter till the very end.

Today, just like Julie, two other girls have also decided to continue their studies after Class VIII. Julie continues to be an inspiration for girls in the village as she’s the only one in the village who has started going to college. Despite staying 2 hours away, she never misses a day to college. Each day, she feels she’s getting closer to her dream of becoming a doctor.