The impact of the COVID pandemic continues to be felt around the world as governments continue to respond to COVID and its economic effects. There is a dire need to address the social disruption that the pandemic has caused, for example, the sharp increase in child marriage. In many countries, when a crisis hits, early and child marriage increases exponentially.
According to UNICEF, child marriage is defined as any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 with an adult or another child. The decision for marriage gets shaped by a web of factors, including poverty, access to education, harassment, and power play which makes early marriage a means of survival necessary to maintain or secure basic rights such as food and education.
Child marriage is valued as an economic coping strategy in two ways: in the exchange of a dowry or relief of the financial burden of having fewer children, primarily the daughter. Dowry or bride price – a payment of cash or goods often made to a bride’s family by the groom’s family – can also provide a desperately needed infusion of cash during hard times.
Child marriage is usually recognized as a necessity for controlling a girls’ sexuality. Various cultural notions of a girl’s virginity and chastity are directly linked to the honour and status of a family. Indeed, girls are perceived as incapable of protecting themselves.
Girls in rural communities are withdrawn from school when they start menstruating to restrict their movements in order to protect their sexuality. Due to improper implementation of the law and increasing crimes against women even during the lockdowns, safety concerns have been the primary reason for increasing child marriage.
Families feel marrying off an underage daughter during a disaster can mean there is one less mouth to feed, or parents may believe that it will protect girls from the increased risk of sexual exploitation because a man can protect their daughters. But child marriage comes with multiple health risks. This is because young brides have limited access to and knowledge of contraception. The majority are exposed to sexual relations leading to repeated pregnancies before they are physically and mentally ready.
Boys forced into marriage also suffer financially. Economic responsibility places a burden on them and may lead to restricting their education. However, while men can leave their wives and seek employment opportunities elsewhere, this option is not open to the majority of women.
Poverty and the lack of economic opportunities for girls in rural areas underpin the decision of child marriage. Girls are either seen as an economic burden or valued as capital for their exchange value in terms of goods, money, or livestock. Various reports indicate that girls are being forced into trading sex for food or money.
The U.N. Population Fund estimates that there will be 13 million additional early and child marriages over the next decade due to the pandemic. According to a 2019 report published by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), India has the largest number of child brides in the world.
Education plays a significant role in preventing child marriages. But, the higher cost of education means that parents choose to stop girls’ education. This is because most people fail to see the economic rationale for investing in their daughter’s education. There are beliefs that girls’ education will adversely influence their future roles as wives and mothers, paving the way to justifying child marriages.
The Pandemic-related school closures are also driving the practice of early child marriage. The organizations that worked with the schools to prevent families from practising child marriage cannot access the vulnerable populations.
Public schools providing food services like the Mid-Day Meal programs to students were the sole source of food for many families. The provision of meals at schools put less burden on the parents to provide for children and even paved the way for the girl child to attain education. But with the closure of schools and increasing burden on parents, many have resorted to child marriage.
Though some schools are providing online schooling, the majority of low-income families have not been able to afford the technology needed to access these resources. India’s stark gender digital divide by the 2020 GSMA Mobile, Gender Gap report noted that women are 20% less likely to use mobile internet than men.
Child marriage remains an ignored violation of the health and development rights of a child. This is because of the official tolerance of cultural, societal, and customary norms that shape and govern the institution of marriage and family life. It is a socially licensed sexual abuse and exploitation of a child.
For example, in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, minor girls in Indonesia and Sri Lanka were reportedly forced into marriage with tsunami widowers. They were given state subsidies for marrying and starting a family. During this period, the closure of schools and a lack of protection for girls created an environment for child marriage and sex transactions between young girls and older men as a means of economic survival for families.
The resultant closure of schools, reverse migration, and lack of financial security has pushed many into poverty. There is a direct link between poverty and child marriage. Poor parents try to make the best possible choices to improve wellbeing within their households, but they have few alternatives they can afford for the girls in the family. The reality is that men make more money, and investing in them could bring life-saving returns. They often view marriage to ensure their daughter’s financial security and reduce the economic burden of a grown adult on the family.