Child marriage free India is an appeal that has been initiated by Kailash satyarthi where people from across the nation are coming together and protesting against child marriage. The initiative was introduced on Sunday at a public gathering in the village of Navrangpura in Rajasthan’s Virat Nagar, more than two hours north of Jaipur, along with another Nobel Peace Laureate, Leymah Gbowee. He launched a nationwide campaign against child marriage from Rajasthan where he appealed to the nation to initiate collective action against child marriage to end the social evil.
Who is Kailash Satyarthi?
Kailash satyarthi is a human right activist from India who has been at the forefront to end child slavery and exploitation since 1980. For the cause of child rights, he gave up a lucrative career as an electrical engineer. As a grass root activist, he and the grass root movement founded by him named “Bachpan Bachao Andolan” have liberated more than 83,000 children from exploitation and developed a successful model for their education rehabilitation, and reintegration into the mainstream of society.
The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize recipient was Kailash Satyarthi. He was given this honor for “bringing attention to the serious financial exploitation of minors.”
Apart from the Nobel peace prize Kailash Satyarthi has received several awards for his work including the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) Defender of Democracy Award; the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award (USA); the Medal of the Italian Senate; the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Human Rights Award (Germany), among many other accolades. These awards have been conferred on him for his immense contribution to advancing human rights.
Child marriage-free India campaign
Despite a law prohibiting it, child marriage is common in India, and given the socioeconomic conditions that support the practices, the girl child always loses out in the end.
Child marriage, which is regrettably still socially acceptable, Satyarthi remarked, is a violation of human rights and dignity. This social evil fuels a never-ending list of atrocities committed against children, particularly against our daughters.
Even after the prevention of child marriage act of 2006, the prohibition of child marriage act of 2006 still forbids the marriage of a boy or girl who is under the age of 21 or the age of 18 years old.
Despite having laws against child marriage in India, India is still witnessing child marriage, which is a hindrance to the development and empowerment of women in society.
According to the national crime records bureau in its latest report 2021 released data where it has shown in several states practices of child marriage still take place where the number of cases registered under the PCM Act crossed 1000 for the first time in 2021. 4,654 cases in total, 39% of which were only registered in 2020 and 2021, were registered between 2011 and 2021.
Objective Of Child Marriage-Free India Campaign.
Child marriage is an abhorrent practice that occurs all across the world, according to Gbowee. This violation of human rights must stop. This is necessary for humankind as a whole.
The ‘Child Marriage Free India’ campaign has broadly three main objectives-
- It’s talking about ensuring the strict implementation of the law.
- To enhance the participation of children and women and ensure their empowerment by giving them free education till the age of 18.
- To protect children from sexual exploitation.
In support of the government proposal of increasing the marriageable age.
Under his campaign for child marriage-free India Kailash satyarthi has said “I support the government’s proposal to increase the marriageable age of girls from 18 to 21 years.”
Where the Modi-led NDA government is planning to raise the legal age of marriage to 21 from 18 for women. According to the government, this will empower women and guarantee gender parity.
Under The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF) campaign, 70,000 women and girls led people in lighting lamps, and torchlight processions in around 10,000 villages from over 500 districts in 26 states.
This campaign has ignited the flames of 70,000 women change-makers, proof that millions of women have felt suffocated by this age-old oppressive societal custom and are willing to raise their voices against the evil practice.
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