Why Child Marriage Crisis Continues To Haunt India: UN Report Explores

Over 200 million women in India were married during their childhood, staggering data from a recent United Nations report showed. The global estimate stands at 640 million girls and women who were married before turning 18, of which India alone makes up one-third of the cases. According to the 2024 Sustainable Development Goals report, one in five girls is married before turning 18, while one in four is married before turning 25 years old. 

The UN Report shows how child marriage remains a significant challenge in India, calling for an urgent need for interference. The data highlights the importance of expedited efforts in tackling this issue and protecting the rights of young girls to ensure they have access to education and development.

UN Report On Child Marriage

The report notes a positive side-- about 68 million child marriages prevented over the past 25 years. However, this improvement does not reveal the grim reality of women's rights in India, where child marriage remains a daunting issue. The UN warns that the world continues to fall short of gender equality.

Issues such as gender-based violence and the lack of autonomy for many women persist, hindering the progress towards gender equality. According to another gender report by the World Economic Forum, the world would have to wait another 134 years to achieve gender parity across education, health, politics, etc.

On June 28, the UN warned that only 17% of its 169 targets set to improve global living conditions are on track to be met by the 2030 deadline, revealing the slow progress towards tackling gender issues. Child marriage snatches opportunities from young girls, limiting their potential and perpetuating cycles of inequality. 

Aside from administrative and social intervention, the world must also pay attention to the lesser-acknowledged factors that lead to child marriage. According to a 2023 report by The Weather Channel, extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, have led to a marked increase in child marriages in low.

This trend is particularly exacerbated in low and middle-class families. Fiona Doherty, lead researcher on the Weather study, explains the situation as this: "What these disasters do is exacerbate existing problems of gender inequality and poverty that lead families to child marriage as a coping mechanism."

UN Secretary Antonio Guterres alerted, "The takeaway is simple, our failure to secure peace, to confront climate change, and to boost international finance is undermining development." Guterres highlighted the gradual pace towards development. "It shows the world is getting a failing grade," he said.