ASRITHA (Association for Social Reformation Integration and Thought of Health Awareness) is dedicated to the development of the deprived people (backward and poor rural women, people with disabilities, child labour, victims of trafficking and violence) of Telangana. The organization is working on the following issues Child Marriage, Child Trafficking, Child Labour and Child Sexual Abuse. The organization participated in and organized the Child Marriage Free India Campaign in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) covering over 150 wards of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, and Medchal districts under the project.
As a collaborative partner, ASRITHA works closely with KSCF and other stakeholders to identify, rescue, and rehabilitate children in need of legal assistance. ASRITHA also trains and empowers the staff and volunteers to handle cases of child rights violations and monitor and document the progress and impact of the project. The Team focuses on the intervention and awareness of child issues through pledges in the communities to safeguard the rights of children.
We believe that every child deserves justice and dignity, and we are committed to making a difference in their lives. Till now ASRITHA saved nearly 214 children from the clutches of child trafficking, child labor, and child marriage and facilitated the safety of abused victims.
The Campaign Activities included:
1. Akshaya Tritiya Campaign - – ASRITHA campaign was organized on 22 April dates and conducted events in vulnerable places. The campaign reached out to religious leaders to pledge to prevent and end child marriage in their villages, and districts.
2. June Action Month – ASRITHA organization conducted the action month with the objective of awareness on Child Marriages and preventing child marriages, through 1 FIRs registered and 1 undertaking. The campaign was conducted in collaboration with the WCD and Police departments and covered by the media with an outreach-like awareness and sensitization campaign in the schools and ward areas through rallies and pledges and reached more than thousands directly.
3. 16 October 2023 - Child Marriage Free India Campaign Event – The campaign event was conducted in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) locations and covered 61 ward areas in collaboration with WCD and Police departments. The campaign was organized in GHMC of Hyderabad districts, 61 wards areas with an outreach of nearly 4212 participants and 156 women leaders in the candle rallies and gatherings.
Campaign highlights: The Child Marriage India Campaign (CMIC) is a grassroots movement that aims to end the practice of child marriage in India by raising awareness, empowering girls, and advocating for legal and policy reforms.
ASRITHA organized 16th October with awareness activities and candle rallies in the GHMC areas. In the morning the team organized awareness activities in the different wards to be aware of the Child Marriage Act and the objective of the CMIC event.
In the awareness activity around 527 individuals participated in the event in the communities, public places, hospitals, labor areas, etc, and were aware of the Child Marriage Act.
Press Conference:
ASRITHA organized a Press Conference at Bashirbagh Press Club on the Child Marriage Free India campaign activities and cases intervention process from May 2023 till now. The speaker explained that the Child Marriage Free India Campaign is a nationwide initiative to end the practice of child marriage and promote the rights of girls and young women. The campaign organizes press conferences in different states and districts to raise awareness mobilize support and advocate for policy change. The press conferences feature testimonies from survivors of child marriage, experts from civil society, and government officials. The campaign also releases reports, factsheets, and media kits to highlight the prevalence, causes, and consequences of child marriage in India. The campaign aims to create a strong public opinion against child marriage and urge the government to implement and enforce laws to protect girls from this violation.
Child Marriage India Campaign Candle Rallies
One of the activities of the CMIC is to organize candle rallies in different vulnerable wards of Hyderabad, where child marriage is prevalent. The candle rallies are a symbolic gesture of solidarity and support for the girls who are forced to marry before they turn 18. The rallies also serve as a platform to educate the public about the harmful consequences of child marriage, such as health risks, domestic violence, school dropout, and poverty. The CMIC has successfully mobilized hundreds of volunteers and participants for the candle rallies, which have received positive media coverage and public attention. The CMIC hopes that the candle rallies will inspire more people to join the cause and pressure the government to enforce the existing laws against child marriage and implement new measures to protect the rights of girls. The campaign was held in the evening hours at 61 wards and nearly 4212 participants and 156 women leaders in the candle rallies and gatherings. The candle covered crucial areas like communities, public gatherings, university campus slums and addas etc., Areas like Kamalanagar, Patelnagar, Chandrayangutta, Tarnaka, Rasoolpura, Neredmet, Langerhouse, Golconda, Hayathnagar, uppugudem and other identified areas.
Background
Child marriage is not just an age-old social evil, but also a heinous crime that robs children of their childhood. Child marriage is a “crime against children” that violates basic human rights, minor girls are forced to marry and live a life of mental trauma, physical and biological stress, and domestic violence including limited access to education and increased vulnerability to domestic violence. The consequences of child marriage are severe and extensive. Some of the specific consequences include early pregnancies leading to complications and a higher rate of maternal mortality and death of infants, malnutrition among both the infant and the mother, increased vulnerability to reproductive health, disruption in girl’s education, and thereby reduction in opportunities of her personal and professional development, domestic violence and abuse, limited decision making powers in the household, and mental health issues.
India’s Census 2011 revealed that 12 million children were married before attaining the legal age, of which 5.2 million were girls. Globally, child marriage is identified as a crime and a menace that needs to be eliminated. It finds space in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, under target 5.3 of Goal 5 which states the elimination of all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation by 2025.
The latest National Family Health Survey (2019-21) shows that although there is a drop in the overall rate of child marriages, from 26.8% in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS 4) to 23.3% in NFHS-5, it is still high despite laws, programs, and schemes in place to address the issue.
Child Marriage Free India Campaign
Understanding the seriousness of the issue, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in W.P. Civil 382 of 2013 pronounced that the sexual intercourse committed by the husband upon his wife being under the age of 18 years with or without her consent can be constituted as rape. To address this, the most definitive and audacious commitment to end child marriage was made with the launch of Child Marriage Free India campaign.
Child Marriage Free India (CMFI) is a nationwide campaign led by women leaders and a coalition of more than 160 NGOs spanning more than 300 districts working to eliminate child marriage in India. CMFI is working to attain the tipping point of child marriage, after which society will not accept this evil practice, and that will happen when the prevalence of child marriage is brought down to 5.5% by 2030, from the current national prevalence rate of 23.3%. This is being done by initially targeting 257 high-prevalence districts and gradually focusing on all the districts of the country.
Child marriage results in child rape, resulting in child pregnancy, and in a large number of cases, may lead to child deaths. For decades, we have been losing generations of our children to child marriage. The Child Marriage Free India campaign has received extended support from various Departments and Institutions of over 28 States. So far, across India more than 5 crore people have taken the pledge to end child marriage over the last year through the efforts of the Child Marriage Free India Campaign.
Know more about the Child Marriage Free India (CMFI) Campaign: https://www.childmarriagefreeindia.org/
Tipping Point to end child marriage
WHEN CHILDREN HAVE CHILDREN - TIPPING POINT TO END CHILD MARRIAGE Book authored by Mr Bhuwan Ribhu is an action plan to eliminate child marriage in India by 2030. It looks at the existing data on child marriage and lists 257 districts in India where the issue of child marriage is worst, which means the occurrence of this evil practice is highest as compared to national numbers.
Tipping Point is the threshold required in an ecosystem to tilt the scale of the problem towards a point of no return. The Tipping Point of Child Marriage is the critical point after which society does not accept child marriage.
Tipping Point Methodology
The aim of reduction of 60 percent of child marriage is assumed to bring down the incidence of child marriage to 5.5 percent in the next nine years from 2021, from the last available estimates i.e., NFHS-5, till 2030. An additional assumption is that such a focused and elaborate intervention against child marriage would have a ripple effect.
To reach the Tipping Point, the Author proposes a strategy at the national and district levels.
a. National Level strategy where Governments, Institutions, statutory bodies, etc. work towards prevention, protection, increased investment, improved prosecution, convergence, and use of technology for monitoring
b. District Level strategy is similar to national level strategy but includes district administration, Panchayats, civil society, NGOs, other functionaries, parents, and children who work collectively to prevent, report, and take action against child marriage