At the national level, child marriages dropped by 69% among girls and 72% among boys
| Photo Credit: PHOTO FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE
Karnataka has recorded one of the sharpest declines in child marriages in the country, with cases falling by 55% among girls and 88% among boys over the past three years, according to a new study.The report, “Tipping Point to Zero: Evidence Towards a Child Marriage Free India”, was released by Just Rights for Children (JRC), a network of over 250 NGOs. It attributes the fall to awareness campaigns, stronger legal deterrence, and community-level interventions that created trust in reporting mechanisms.Steepest in AssamAt the national level, child marriages dropped by 69% among girls and 72% among boys. Assam registered the steepest fall among girls at 84%, followed by Maharashtra and Bihar (70% each), and Rajasthan (66%). The study, covering 757 villages across five States, was prepared by the Centre for Legal Action and Behaviour Change for Children (C-LAB), an initiative of JRC partner India Child Protection.Decline in number of child marriagesGirls BoysKarnataka55%88%National level69%72%Note: 2,000 child marriages stopped in 2021 through PDO interventionKarnataka’s approachUnlike most other States, Karnataka relied more on helplines (75%) and Child Welfare Committees (53%) than police stations (40%) for reporting cases. This shift, the report noted, shows a “critical link between trust in community-based systems and action against child marriage.”The State government’s move to empower Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) to register marriages was described as a “turning point.” Being accessible to villagers, PDOs built awareness and prevented nearly 2,000 child marriages in 2021 alone. Karnataka also became the first State to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, making even engagements involving minors a punishable offence, the study noted.Awareness and deterrentsAwareness campaigns were identified by 92% of respondents as the most effective tool to end child marriage, followed by prosecutions through FIRs and arrests (50%).Nearly 99% of respondents said they had heard of the Union government’s Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat campaign, mostly through NGOs, schools, and gram panchayats. In Karnataka, all respondents reported taking a pledge against child marriage, while 78% identified NGOs as lead facilitators.
