India Among Countries With High Incidence Of Forced Marriage Of Minors, Reveals UN Report

As per the categorisations by the United Nations for Human Rights (UNHR), although modern slavery is not defined by law, it is used as an umbrella term to cover practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, human trafficking, sale of children, sexual slavery, and so on.

Studying the prevalence of modern slavery globally, the UN was able to deduce that about 50 million people around the world were living in "modern slavery" in the year 2021. The crimes went up, and the numbers peaked in particular during the Covid-19 pandemic. Countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Egypt were noted with an increased risk of forced marriages in the Global Estimates Of Modern Slavery.

At least 22 million people were found trapped in forced marriages against their consent. Out of this, nearly two-thirds (14.2 million) took place in Asian and Pacific countries, shortly followed by African and European countries. The Americas was found to have the lowest prevalence of forced marriage at 1.5 per thousand people.

Pandemic Induced Other Horrors For Many

The report stated Covid-19 as one of the leading factors that led to an increased risk of forced marriage in every region. From the data that was made available, there was an increase in child and forced marriages reported predominantly from countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Senegal, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The actual numbers could potentially go beyond these documented estimates as the collection of official statistics, including that of civil registration systems, was interrupted during this time. Due to the covid restrictions that were imposed, several ethical considerations were broken down, and timely response services faced severe delays.

The number of people who fell victim to modern slavery rose drastically in the last five years, with women and children categorised among the high-risk and vulnerable groups that were most affected. Furthermore, reports by the Deccan Herald quoted that more than a quarter of all forced marriages were traced back to upper-middle income or high-income countries.

Direct Violation Of Article 15

In India, forced marriages are considered illegal under the provisions of Article 15 of the Indian Contract Act 1872. It has outrightly been tagged as a violation of human rights. All child marriages fall under this category of forced marriages as well, since minors cannot legally consent to marry.

Despite the many laws in place that criminalise forced marriages, the laws fall behind in terms of effective enforcement. This also comes in the light of several other laws other than civil law, such as the Hindu Marriage Act and Muslim Personal Law, which makes it permissible to marry minors or women without their consent. Additionally, the patriarchal attitudes and practices have driven to add on to more forced marriages, about 85 per cent of it.

These illegal and forced marriages in India were looked into by a study conducted by the Tahirih Justice Center, a non-governmental organisation in the US focused on understanding gender-based violence. As per their reports, India was among the countries with one of the highest rates of child marriages. A rough account suggested that India's child brides constituted nearly half of the child brides globally.

This was supported by the UN study that estimated about 22 million people were "living in forced marriage on any given day in 2021". The children aged 16 and younger constituted a good proportion of this number.

The study also proposed several actions that can be taken to curb the incidence of such cases. These include improving and enforcing laws, extending social protection, strengthening legal protections, and raising the legal age of marriage to 18 without any exception provided to religious laws.

Also Read: Minor Girl Can Marry Without Parental Consent Under Muslim Law, Rules Delhi HC