Pandemic, poverty spur child marriages

 

 Pandemic, poverty spur child marriages

• The COVID-­19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have proved to be new drivers of child marriages in rural Madhya Pradesh, with several reports of such ceremonies from different parts of the State during the ongoing marriage season
• Madhya Pradesh recorded 46 child marriages between November 2019 and March 2020, a figure that jumped to 117 in just three months of the lockdown from April to June, data provided by ChildLine India, an NGO, said
• According to ChildLine India, across India, 5,214 child marriages were reported in the first four months of the lockdown between March and June. 

Reason behind it

• As the lockdown started from march 2020 the small and poor farmers who don't have enough money to give protection to their daughters are getting them married so they are secure and have protection for their daughters. 
• Due to lack of money, they can't send their daughter's to school
• Child marriage is still a challenge in the State. Increased economic pressures due to the pandemic have pushed parents to marry off girls early

Source: The Hindu