Kerala Vows to End Child Marriage by 2030: Districts with High Prevalence in Focus

Kerala, which is one of the few states that can boast of a low prevalence of child marriage in the state, is determined to wipe out this social crime from the state by 2030 and now plans to extensively focus on the districts which record high incidents of child marriage. To discuss this, the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KeLSA) held a state consultation, in coordination with Child Marriage Free India and supported by its coalition partner Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) at Kerala High Court in Ernakulam. Key speakers present on the occasion included Ashish Jitendra Desai, Chief Justice of Kerala High Court; Justice Muhamed Mustaque, Judge, High Court of Kerala & Executive Chairman, KeLSA; K Gopalkrishna Kurup, Advocate General of Kerala; K N Anil Kumar, Chairman, Bar Council of Kerala; Shaik Darvesh Saheb, DGP & State Police Chief; Yeswanth Shenoy, President, Kerala High Court Advocates Association; Joshy John, District Judge & Member Secretary, KeLSA; and Ravikant, Convenor, Child Marriage Free India.

Inaugurating the session, Chief Justice of Kerala Ashish Jitendra Desai called for the collective attention of the State on the crucial issue of child marriage. “It is a violation of the fundamental rights of the people. India is committed to achieving gender equality by avoiding all evil practices and Kerala has always been at the forefront for initiating social movements and secure a state free of Child Marriage and Rape,” the Chief Justice of Kerala emphasized

Meanwhile, Justice Muhamed Mustaque, Judge, High Court of Kerala & Executive Chairman, KeLSA, talked about the reasons why child marriage prevails in some districts of Kerala. “There is lack of awareness about Child Marriages in remote places in Kerala like Wayanad, Kasargod, and Malappuram.Certain communities, including Tribal communities...", child marriage is witnessed in Muslim Communities also. We owe duty towards the upcoming generation to prevent the same. It is the lack of education and heavy compulsion that force them to get married early,” Justice Mustaque said.

During the day-long consultation, speakers discussed about the efficacy of targeted intervention in the most vulnerable districts for complete end of child marriage. Ravikant, Convenor, Child Marriage Free India said, “There are pledged against Child Marriage witnessed in India. They are at home settings, commercial settings, culturally sanctioned practices and digitally sanctioned settings. The war to end the child marriages have already begun and around 414 districts have already been covered with 200 plus Civil Society organisations, panchayats, schools and law enforcement agencies. We have seen that almost 7 crores Indians pledged against Child Marriage as a result of our CMFI programmes.”

As part of the Child Marriage Free Kerala initiative on October 16 last year, various state government departments including KeLSA and Directorate, Tribal Development issued circulars directing their respective departments and officials to take part in Child Marriage Free Kerala.

While lauding the state’s low prevalence of child marriage as compared to the rest of the nation, Joshy John, Member Secretary, KeLSA said, “While a considerable portion of Kerala has successfully eradicated child marriages, there are pockets where it still persists. Moving forward, our focus needs to be on these specific areas, allowing us to develop targeted action plans and interventions. Additionally, all District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) are dedicated to offering selective interventions in these regions."

Shaik Darvesh Saheb, DGP & State Police Chief said that most incidents of child marriage occur in plantation sectors and police officers are well-trained to deal with such scenarios for the end of child marriage.

As per the National Family Health Survey 5 (NHFS 2019-21), 23.3 percent of girls in the age group of 20-24 were married off before attaining the age of 18, while the same in Kerala stands at 6.3 percent. However, the different districts in the state have shown varied levels in terms of the prevalence of child marriage. While Pathanamthitta, Kottayam and Kollam have 0, 1.6 and 1.8 percent of child marriage respectively, some districts like Malappuram (15.3%), Palakkad (14.1%), and Idukki (7.1%) witness much higher incidents of child marriage in the state.