Mandatory but easy arrangements are made to require every child to get a 'child registration certificate' from the ward office of the concerned municipality for marriage after reaching the age of 20 and if such a target is set, positive changes can be brought about.
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The Constitution of Nepal has placed the right against child marriage as a fundamental right. Nepal is also a party to various international treaties against child marriage. In this sense it falls within the theoretical scope of human rights.
According to the existing laws of Nepal, marriages under the age of 20 are defined as child marriages. A provision has also been made for a person who commits a marriage-related offense to be imprisoned for up to 3 years and fined up to 30,000 rupees. Despite these theoretical and legal advancements, it seems that child marriage has not been adequately controlled.
If you look at the statistics of Nepal Police, in the year 2022, 52 child marriage complaints were registered in Koshi province, 10 in Madhesh province, 10 in Bagmati province, 5 in Lumbani province, 10 in Sudurpaschim province, 2 in Gandaki province, 9 in Karnali province. These figures are representative only. In any case, the practice of covering up child marriage is rampant in families or societies with the mentality that they will marry their children, whether it is the parents who shirk responsibility by getting their children married or the children themselves. We should be aware of this. Because of this, most of the cases are not filed against such marriages.
According to the 2068 census, child marriage, which was 27 percent, has dropped to 21 percent in the 2078 census. However, there are various reasons why child marriage has not stopped at the expected pace. Child marriage remains a concern in rural and marginalized communities under the guise of tradition and culture. In terms of child marriage, Nepal is the second country in Asia and still 60 percent of girls (girls) and 10 percent of boys (boys) are becoming part of the social stigma of child marriage.
row writer himself also has a sad experience of child marriage. I am committed to playing a concrete role in reducing child marriage by imbibing the empathy of how it affects the overall development of girls from families with a normal background. A resolution proposal has also been registered in the House of Representatives with the aim of starting a concrete and decisive debate for the end of child marriage in Nepal. It is now necessary to debate whether child marriage, which is tarnishing the society and the nation, can be stopped, not reduced.
In our society, child marriage is not limited to a specific community or geography but is spread all over the country. Due to child marriage, children of the age of physical and mental changes are bound into marriage which results in first of all the violation of the right to education. No matter how strict the laws are, traditional thinking and socio-economic environment discourages child marriage. Similarly, poverty, inequality, lack of education and gender discrimination are included.
Various studies show that child marriage increases the risk of early pregnancy, maternal mortality, malnutrition, school dropout rates and violence. It is also a subtle and perverse form of gender violence. Child marriage is both a cause and consequence of poverty. Rather than the right to education, child marriage ends children's formal education. Child marriage in lower and middle class families has led to forced child bearing and parenting. Not only this, mostly men or women who get married at an older age, they have less decision-making ability and are also deprived of participating in the 'economic cycle' which is necessary to sustain the life cycle.
As we know, in 2015, 193 countries in the United Nations (UN) committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and set various goals with 17 indicators for global development priorities until 2030. Target 5.3 under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) talks about ending child marriage. 2030 is 5 years away. But there seems to be a lack of clarity that we can achieve the set goals. We now have three levels of government, local, provincial and federal.
We have made laws against child marriage. From the United Nations, various donor agencies seem to be trying to end child marriage. But the campaigns and programs conducted in this regard do not seem to be able to touch a certain category of people. Madhesh and Karnali provinces which are yet to be declared fully literate. There is a huge gap in the human development index in different dimensions. Where there is a lack of awareness in the society cursed with the ugly practice like child marriage. We need to be serious about this to achieve the goal of sustainable development.
Mandatory but easy arrangements were made to require every child to get a 'minor registration certificate' for marriage from the ward office of the respective municipality after reaching the age of 20 and if such a goal is set, positive changes can be brought about. Just like the birth certificate, citizenship or other documents are given by the state, in the same way, our policy priority should be towards the mandatory registration of the adult who has completed 20 years from the pre-marriage ward.
