Child marriage: When will our girls' lives be more important than religious sentiments?

India still accounts for 40% of all the child brides in the world, condemning millions to lead a wretched life.

A new report released by Dasra, a philanthropy foundation called Marry me later: Preventing Child Marriage and Early Pregnancy in India released a report on the phenomenon of child marriage in India. The report also highlights how millions of girls can lead a healthier life for themselves and their families if they marry later.

The report says India accounts for the highest share of world's 60 million child marriages and 61% of women between the ages of 25-49 were married before they turn 18. Some other stats from the report:

• India accounts for 40% of child brides in India, which means two out of every five child brides is an Indian.
• 47% of Indian girls are married before they turn 18.
• 22% of Indian girls give birth before they turn 18.
• Girls under 15 are five times as likely to die during child birth than women in their early 20s.
• Loss of productivity due adolescent pregnancies is $7.7 billion a year.

A new hope?

However, there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel. The report found that 70% girls who have undergone secondary education are less likely to get married below 18. Other progress made in the department includes:

• Child marriage rates have decreased from the time of the first National Family Health Survey (1992-93) when 54% of women aged 20-24 years were married as children to 47% as per the last National Family Health Survey (2005-06).

• The median age at which girls are married has increased marginally from 16.1 years to 16.8 years in the same period.

According to the foundation, there are four key priority areas to tackle the issue. These include:

• Creating alternate life options for girls
• Identifying and sensitizing gatekeepers
• Promoting birth and marriage registration
• Addressing the needs of adolescent brides

While the situation has improved, there are currently 57 million girls at the risk of child marriage in the coming decade and we as a nation have to pull together and stop this without giving a fig about religious sentiments. After all what God wants their daughters to die?

The reason child marriage is a big concern is because it leads to a host of complications related to adolescent pregnancy which include:

Hypertension: They have a higher risk of suffering from hypertension during pregnancy than women in their 20s and 30s. They're also likelier to suffer from pre-eclampsia (What is preeclampsia?). In pregnant women (including teens), hypertension can lead to a serious condition called preeclampsia where women start passing protein in their urine. This leads to the disease called eclampsia which is characterised by seizures and a coma. This condition also affects other vital organs like the kidneys, liver and brain.

Anaemia: Caused due to lack of red blood cells which is usually due to nutrition deficiency like iron, vitamin B12, folic acid. The most common form is anaemia. Even women who're older experience iron deficiency during pregnancy. (Read: There's more to anaemia than just iron deficiency!)

Postpartum haemorrhage: The term refers to a haemorrhage (bleeding) after delivering and is quite common among adolescent mothers. It's caused due to the four Ts:

• Tone: Uterine atony or the inability of the uterus to contract leading to continuous bleeding.
• Trauma: From delivery which causes tear of tissues and vessels.
• Tissue: Retention of tissue from the placenta or foetus which leads to bleeding.
• Thrombin: Failure of clotting

Premature birth:This has a host of complications including neonatal mortality (death within the first month) developmental disorders, respiratory complications, vision problems and heart-related issues. They're also likelier to have a low-birth weight which is linked to neurological problems. They also suffer from hypoglycaemia (less glucose in the bloodstream).

STDs:The chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases including HIV is much higher in adolescent girls because they have less say in who their sexual partner is, particularly in an orthodox country like ours. Many of them are married to men who they've never met before and have no clue about their sexual history.

All in all adolescent pregnancies are a big menace and we need to curb the practice to safeguard the lives of our daughters, so that they too can live a completely fulfilling life. (Read: Sexually Transmitted Diseases you could have one!)

Also read:

• Can the private sector reduce India's TB burden?
• How Google Glass can change healthcare
• Are those expensive tests really required?
• Do any of our politicians care about the nation's health?
• Was ex-health secretary Keshav Desi Raju's transfer justified?

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