The marriage age of women; Should it be raised?

 Author: Kirtana Gopakumar

The legal, as well as societally accepted marriage ages have evolved over the years. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, which the British Indian Government enacted, initially placed the marriageable ages at 14 for girls and 18 for boys, which was later amended to 18 and 21. It was then eventually replaced by The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, which maintained the ages 18 and 21. The latter focused on the prohibition of child marriages instead of the former, which aimed to restrain such child marriages. Effectively, since 1978, the legal ages for marriage have been at least 18 for men and women. There are ongoing protests from certain religious organizations that such minimum legal ages do not apply to them due to the personal laws in place; however, the same has been refuted by the various High Courts as well as the Supreme Court.

Picture Credits: Times of India 

Should the legal marriage age be increased?

In his Independence Day speech, prime minister Narendra Modi spoke about the government's plan to increase women's marriage age shortly. This has tremendous implications with the possibility of changing the socio-economic fabric of our country as a whole. Arguments against and for the increase of legal marriage age for women are polarising. Conservative sections of the society also protest against increasing the legal marriage ages, stating personal laws and declining fertility rates. 

The main detractors state that while in the past several decades, the legal marriage age for women has been 18, roughly 25 percent of Indian women still undergo underage marriages. They argue that ultimately, social reform, education, and awareness prevent child marriages, not any law that may be enacted. Thus they implore that the government focuses on spending in such areas rather than the legal age amendment. 

On the other hand, it is considered as a very welcome move by many to take care of the physical and mental welfare of roughly 50% of the country’s population, largely due to the following.

Mental health and early marriage

Mental health continues to be a topic shrouded in shame and embarrassment in India today, with women's mental health seldom even acknowledged or spoken of. On the other hand, marriage as an institution is highly coveted, often considered the ultimate goal of a woman- to be someone’s wife and mother. Therefore, it is no surprise that roughly one in four young women in India were married before they turned 18, as per a 2019 publication by UNICEF.

Early marriage and the physical and mental wellbeing of a woman

From a physical standpoint, early marriage and, consequently, early pregnancy have a greater risk of maternal and infant mortality. In fact, maternal mortality is five times more likely for girls under 15, while children of underage mothers are 60 percent more likely to die within their first year of life than those born to a mother older than 19. Younger brides are also less likely to ensure safe sexual practices, thereby exposing themselves to sexually transmitted diseases. It is safe to say that the vicious cycle of poverty and illiteracy is thereby continued. While early marriage's physical effects are well documented, the strain placed by an early marriage on mental health is to be better scrutinized

Women and work

Marriage at the present legal age of 18 years means the woman has at best-completed schooling. She is not equipped to get skilled employment and, therefore, never enters the country's workforce. In fact, the Workforce participation for the female population has declined from 30.279% of the female population aged 15+ in 1990 to 20.335% in 2020 as per the World Bank database. Lack of gainful employment creates a situation where the woman is entirely dependent on her father/husband/son for her needs and, therefore, is forced to endure any abuse or mistreatment meted out to her. Further, having only one family earning member creates a burden financially, especially in an unexpected expense or job loss.

Increasing the marriage age to, say, 21 ensures that around 48% of the Indian population is provided a real opportunity to enter the country’s workforce, which is beneficial to the woman, her family, and the nation. Further presently, 94% of working women are employed in the unorganized or informal sector. The opportunity to obtain education can ensure employment in higher-paying jobs with greater dignity.

Women’s safety in marriage

Marital rape is an exception from rape as provided in Section 375(2) of the Indian Penal Code. This means that forced sex in marriage is not prosecuted, except in specific scenarios. While this outdated law requires amendment, the present scenario puts many young women at ever-present risk of abuse and domestic violence and weighs heavily on such women's health and well-being, especially young brides who may be uneducated about any rights protection they may be entitled to.

Motherhood and women-postpartum depression

One of the significant results of early marriage is early childbirth. Lack of education, limited access, and awareness about contraception, the taboo around sex education, to list a few, means that young brides become pregnant at very young ages. Maternity is a life-changing event, and the mental effects of unwanted pregnancies and childbirth are immense. The effects of pregnancy on the body and hormones can cause a state of depression that is harmful to both mother and baby. This is, however, rarely acknowledged or understood. Even post-delivery, the mother may suffer from postpartum depression due to the hormonal changes in the body and various other factors like exhaustion, sleep deprivation, anxiety, etc. Based on a publication by the WHO on postpartum depression in India, after a study covering around 20000 mothers, there was a 22% incidence of postpartum depression, which is much higher than the 12.9% incidence in higher-income countries around the world. However, due to various factors like financial difficulties, lack of spousal and familial support through such depression, baby’s sickness, etc, adequate care is not being provided to such new mothers. As India has made significant progress in minimizing maternal mortality, the focus must now shift from maternal mental health and other areas of significance.

For the better womankind 

An increase in the minimum legal age of marriage, coupled with strict checks in place to ensure adherence, can alter the face of women’s health, safety, and welfare with far-reaching implications. It can, however, even argued that it is not merely enough to increase the legal age for women. Further stimulation for change, in the form of free education up to the age of 18 as opposed to only age 14 today, the introduction of sex education into the school curriculum, the introduction of measures to destigmatize conversations around mental health, grass-root awareness programs, etcetera could yield rapid cultural changes in our country and push for a better future for womankind.