To put women on an equal footing with men, the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21. According to Prime Minister Modi, raising the legal age of marriage will empower girls and help them build their careers. In addition, this measure will potentially end the threat of teenage marriages, where girls between the ages of 14 and 15 are married off after being portrayed as 18. Even now, 23.3% of women in the country are married before the age of 18. Data show that the drop-out rate for girls in grades 1 to 5 and grades 6 to 8 is only 1.2% and 2.6%, respectively, compared to 15.1% in grades 9 to 10. We hope that this decision will have a positive impact on girls` dropout rates. As for the issue of postponing marriages until the age of 21, this seems to happen even without a legal mandate. In recent decades, data show an upward trend in the age at which women marry. The average age of a bride at marriage was 22.3 years in 2018, up from 18.3 years in 2001.
English common law applied in all jurisdictions in the United States, unless a state law replaced or modified it. In the United States, particularly in recent years, the general age of marriage has been revised downwards to between 18 and 21. [1] There is little variation over time or between states in laws without parental consent. [1] Prior to 1971, about 80% of states reported an age of 18 for marriage without parental consent for women and about 85% declared an age of 21 for men. [1] The age of marriage in the United States is the age at which a person can marry in the United States as a right or with parental consent or other authorization. This age is determined by each state and territory, either by statute or by common law. In general, a person can marry after reaching the age of 18 in all states except Nebraska, where the general age of marriage is 19, and Mississippi, where the general age of marriage is 21. [1] The general age of marriage is generally the age of majority, although in Alabama the general age of marriage is 18, while the age of majority is 19. „Girls are seen as a heavier burden [because of the extra years they are supported before marriage]. Parents will say, `Why did we have to give birth to girls?` “ said one participant. „But data is tricky,“ says Mary E.
John, Research Fellow at the Centre for Women`s Development Studies. Early marriage occurs mainly in low-income families living in rural areas that lack adequate access to health care and education. Women in these families may be more malnourished than their urban counterparts, who are generally better off and marry at an older age. Poverty, not age, is the driving force behind poor health indicators among young rural women, says John. In the 12th century, the canonical lawyer Gratian stated that consent to marriage could not be given before the age of 12 for women and 14 for men; And consent to the commitment could not be given before the age of 7 for women and men, because this is the age of reason. The Church of England, after secession from the Roman Catholic Church, had the same minimum age. The age of consent to marriage of 12 for girls and 14 for minors has been incorporated into English civil law. [10] Mitharwal`s reasoning is shared by the Indian government, which last year set up a task force to review the legal age of marriage. Raising the age of marriage „would prepare [girls] physiologically and psychologically to take responsibility for marriage and children,“ India`s health ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter. It would also increase women`s participation in the labor market and be „a boon for maternal and child health,“ he added.
Child marriage is harmful. It is a human rights violation that legitimizes abuses and denies girls` autonomy. When girls are forced into marriage, they are essentially exposed to state-sanctioned rape and risk increasing domestic violence, forced pregnancies, and negative health consequences while being denied education and economic opportunities. Equality Now and its partners have committed to setting the minimum age of marriage at 18, without exception. A bride in India. There is a movement to get the government to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21. Rafiq Maqbool / AP Hiding the legend In the 19th century, the marriageable age for women from 1949 was 10 and 15. However, in 1978, an amendment was passed under the Child Marriage Restriction Act (CMRA) to raise the age of marriage for girls to 18. And in 2006, the Indian government enacted the Prevention of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), which replaced the CMRA with a motto to abolish child marriage. While 44 years have passed since the anti-child marriage law, the primitive practice continues in several parts of the country. With the minimum age of marriage of 21, a woman is mentally, physically and financially better able to defend herself against pressure or abuse from her family because she married early or married against her will.