Child Marriage: A
Necessary Evil
Child
marriage is a marital union between two individuals of different sex before the
age of 18. Child marriage has its
emergence: from poverty, settling property issues, in order to control over the
sexuality and protect the so-called honor of the family, social pressure, sense
of protecting the girl child from being raped, and thereby tarnish the image of
the entire family and so on. In order, to protect the child especially from
other social evil people took recourse to child marriage, which is equally not
acceptable recourse. Discussing about
child marriages, both the sexes that is; both the boys and girls fall prey to.
However, it is to be noted that, often
it is the girl child who becomes the victim of it. Therefore, if we have to
compare child marriage and its statistical data we are sure to find that girl
child marriages, scales right up while boys child marriage are less.
A
child by its very nature has the right to enjoy its childhood. Parents who
advocate child marriage try to cognize with a terrible misconception that the
child is their property/asset and they can deal with their children the way
they like. Deducing, from this so called cognizable truth, one could say, child
marriage is an organized form of child trafficking formed to satiate the
repressed sexual desires of the grownups.
A
child who is victim of child marriage
has to put up with terrible consequences. For instance, a girl child who is
victim of child marriage has to come in terms with the tradition of the land;
and leave her house and move to new found home. The child is simply,
jeopardized. The girl child is distanced from her parents when she requires,
love and care of the parents the most. Because of marriage, she loses the
opportunity for education. She often faces situation of bonded labor, and faces
enslavement. Moreover, at times she also becomes victim of commercial sexual
exploitation and violence. The child is exposed, to serious health issues. The
child succumbs to death because of early pregnancy. If in case the child
survives the entire pregnancy ordeal and if she does give birth to a child, she
just cannot wean the child simply because she does not hold the maturity to do
so. Therefore, she cannot mother the child properly because she herself is a
child.
Child
marriage posits severe threat not only for the child but also to the economy as
well. The illiteracy level increases, which give way to other liabilities of
the society such as poverty, reduced participation in the political arena
because of lack of knowledge, and the like. Thereby hampering the all round
development of the country.
The
nightmare of child continues to haunt us even in the 21st century.
The government has come up with contingent plans to eradicate child marriage
but of no avail. If child marriage
continues, than it is sure to demean the very society that we live in. Child
Marriage, has become a necessary evil, which should be abrogated from our
society at the earliest; if not at ripe time it will take its toll on our
society. As true citizens of our country, we should act out vehemently against
it but the question is are we ready for this uphill task.
Mascrine Lawrence Victor
MACJ
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