स्वयंसेवक
On October 18, 2024, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark ruling that will significantly accelerate efforts to eliminate child marriage in India.
This judgment is crucial as it addresses child marriage comprehensively, recognising it as a multifaceted issue. Child marriage stems from patriarchy and creates a health and education crisis. It raises serious safety and criminal justice concerns, including rape and trafficking - an organised crime. It traps victims in a life of oppression, denying them freedom, and sanctioning daily violence. It also has economic implications, leading to low workforce participation among women, with 1 in 4 girls aged 18 to 25 married.
Highlights:
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The Court's detailed directives to various government ministries aim to ensure the complete elimination of child marriage across the country.
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The Court ruled that India’s child marriage laws must be enforced using a prevention, protection, and prosecution model.
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The bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra held that child marriage robs a child of her free will to choose a life partner.
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The landmark judgment also recommended that the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006 be amended to make the standalone act of betrothing children illegal.
The ruling was the result of a petition filed by the members of CMFI Campaign, Society for Enlightenment and Voluntary Action (SEVA) and activist Nirmal Gorana, which claimed that the situation of child marriage in the country is grim and there is non-implementation of the child marriage statute in “letter and spirit”.
SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES REINFORCE THE PICKET STRATEGY
In its judgment, the Court outlined key guidelines that align with the PICKET strategy proposed by Bhuwan Ribhu, founder of the Child Marriage Free India (CMFI) campaign, as described in his book When Children Have Children – Tipping Point to End Child Marriage. The book serves as a roadmap for stakeholders to achieve the tipping point to eradicate child marriage in India by 2030.
The Court's directions, by fully embracing the PICKET strategy, reaffirm its central role in our campaign. This alignment underscores the strategy's effectiveness to drive lasting change.
3P MODEL IN ACTION ON THE GROUND
The CMFI campaign has already played a significant role in accelerating an end to child marriage in India. Using the 'prevention, protection, and prosecution' model supported by the Supreme Court's ruling, the campaign has prevented more than 120,000 child marriages in 2023-24 alone. In addition, it is supporting more than 50,000 villages which have declared themselves 'Child Marriage Free Villages'.
This landmark judgment will further strengthen the efforts in India, already a global leader in the efforts against child marriage.