Girls, Not Brides: India’s first state-level network to tackle menace launched in Rajasthan
Taking a new initiative, representatives of civil society groups, social organisations and adolescent girls of various divisions of Rajasthan launched India's first state-level network, 'Girls Not Brides, Rajasthan', to abolish the practice of child marriage.
The initiative is significant because according to a recent report by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Rajasthan is among the top 12 states where prevalence of child marriage is higher than the national average. Moreover, 10 districts of Rajasthan are among the top 100 districts of the country.
"Rajasthan and Bihar lead in child marriage practice. Several organisations in Rajasthan have been working on the issue of child marriages for a long time. Since April 2017, a need was felt to take effective action on the issue collectively. It is in this context that the state level network has been launched," Arvind Ojha, coordinator of 'Girls Not Brides, Rajasthan', said.
Rajasthan was the first state in the country which had formulated an action plan for the abolition of child marriages in 2016. According to NCPCR, prevalence of marriage in Rajasthan among 15-19-year-old girls declined between 2005-06, and came down to 16.2 per cent from 40.4 per cent in 2015-16. In Rajasthan, child marriage in rural areas is 89.4 per cent while in urban areas it is 10.6 per cent.
"40 civil society organisations and 250 persons, including more than 150 adolescent girls, have joined the initiative. At the same time, more civil society groups and social organisations will be attached to this campaign. The campaign will act as an influential group for implementing this action plan and turn it into reality," said Ojha.
Major Issue In Asia
“Child marriage was a major issue in almost all countries of Asia. The “Girls Not Brides” partnerships have been established in Nepal and Bangladesh and have made a significant contribution to the changes made in the policies at the national level in these countries. In view of this experience, we believe that this network will make significant, positive and collective efforts to end child marriages in Rajasthan as well.” Shipra Jha, Asia Chief said.
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