VIJAYAWADA: NGOs working for women welfare in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have submitted a representation to the Prime Minister as well as the Union Minister for Women & Child Development demanding that November 1 be declared National Child Marriage Prohibition Day, said Help NGO secretary Nimmaraju Ram Mohan. He said the Centre introduced the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act on November 1, 2007. “I request them to declare the first day of the month of November as National Child Marriage Prohibition Day.”
As per the fourth National Family Health Survey (2015-16), 32.7 per cent of women in the State in the age group of 20 to 24 were married off before the age of 18 and 23.5 per cent of men between 25 and 29 years got married before turning 21.Guntur, Krishna, East Godavari, Prakasam and West Godavari are five districts where more than 27 per cent of the marriages involve a minor.
As per the statistics maintained by CHILDLINE-1098, around 1700 child marriages took place in 2017, while 1900 happened in 2019. Ram Mohan said that even after implementation of the act, the number of child marriages has not decreased as many families still consider the female sex to be a burden and aim to reduce it by marrying them off early.
“Keeping in view the rampant occurence of child marriages, I request the Centre to announce November 1 as a special day so that awareness can be created among the public about child protection mechanisms and penalties for violating the law,” he concluded.