The proportion of girls getting married in India has nearly halved in a decade, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF said on Tuesday, which has contributed significantly to a global decline in child marriage.

UNICEF said 25 million child marriages were prevented worldwide in the last decade, with the largest reduction seen in South Asia - where India was at the forefront.

"India constitutes more than 20 percent of the world's adolescent population and accounts for the highest number of child marriages in South Asia given its size and population," said Javier Aguilar, UNICEF's chief of child protection.

"In the current trend, 27 percent of girls, or nearly 1.5 million girls, get married before they turn 18 in India. This is a sharp decline from 47 percent a decade ago," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Child marriage adds to health, education and abuse risks, and increases the chance of intergenerational poverty, said Anju Malhotra, UNICEF's principal gender adviser, in a statement.

Child bride Krishna, 12, stands at a doorway into Child bride Krishna, 12, stands at a doorway into her compound in a village near Baran, in India's Rajasthan state, July 30 , 2011. Child bride Krishna, 12, stands at a doorway into her compound in a village near Baran, in India's Rajasthan state, July 30 , 2011.

"Given the life-altering impact child marriage has on a young girl's life, any reduction is welcome news, but we've got a long way to go," Malhotra said.

Campaigners and officials attributed the drop in child marriages to better access to education for women and increased public awareness on the negative impact of child marriage.

UNICEF estimates that 12 million girls a year are married globally, and says more is needed to end the practice by 2030 - the target set under the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals.

UNICEF's conclusions on India came after comparing data from its 2006 and 2016 health survey that asked women in the 20-24 age group whether they had married before they turned 18. It also took into account child marriage data from the 2011 census.

The legal age of marriage in India is 18 for women and 21 for men. Last year the Supreme Court ruled that sex with an underage wife constituted rape.

FILE - Child bride Laxmi, 14, looks on at the Bala FILE - Child bride Laxmi, 14, looks on at the Balaji temple in Kamkheda village, in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, May 7, 2011. FILE - Child bride Laxmi, 14, looks on at the Balaji temple in Kamkheda village, in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, May 7, 2011.

India's Prohibition of Child Marriage Act imposes a fine of 100,000 Indian rupees ($1,535) and two years in prison for parents caught trying to marry off their underage children.

Despite the law, child marriage remains deeply rooted and accepted in society, and is widespread in parts of the country.

Mahesh Bhagwat, police chief of Rachakonda district in Telangana, where child marriage is widespread and where wedding hall decorators and priests were enlisted last year to help combat it, said the law had made an impact.

"But things are still going on clandestinely," he said.

Jayna Kothari, executive director of the Bangalore-based Center for Law & Policy Research, who has petitioned the government to declare child marriages invalid, said more action was needed.

"Better awareness of the Supreme Court's verdict would deter child marriages, and declaring them invalid would strengthen India's laws against them," she said.</s>Image copyright AFP

There has been a significant drop in the number of child marriages worldwide, the United Nations children's agency says.

Unicef estimates that 25 million child marriages have been prevented in the past decade.

One in five girls are now married before they are 18, compared with one in four a decade ago.

South Asian countries have seen the biggest reduction in child marriages, Unicef says.

In India this was achieved by better education for girls and by publicising the harm child marriage causes.

The agency said the problem was now most severe in Africa but even so, Ethiopia had cut child marriage rates by a third.

Anju Malhotra, Unicef's principal gender adviser, said that given the life-changing impact child marriage had on a girl's life, "any reduction is welcome news - but we've got a long way to go".

"When a girl is forced to marry as a child she faces immediate and lifelong consequences," she said.

"Her odds of finishing school decrease while her odds of being abused by her husband and suffering complications during pregnancy increase. There are also huge societal consequences, and higher risk of intergenerational cycles of poverty."

The report said that the burden of child marriage was shifting to sub-Saharan Africa, where more progress was needed to offset population growth.

Unicef said nearly one in three child marriages were now in sub-Saharan Africa, compared with one in five a decade ago.

World leaders have vowed to end child marriage by 2030 under the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Ms Malhotra said that to meet that target, efforts had to be stepped up "to prevent millions of girls having their childhoods stolen through this devastating practice".</s>New Delhi: There has been a significant drop in the number of child marriages in India — from nearly 50 to 30 percent — in the last 10 years, a survey by UN children’s agency Unicef showed on Tuesday. There has been significant drop globally in the practice as well, and 25 million child marriages have been prevented in the past decade worldwide, the UN Children’s Fund said.

According to the new data, the total number of girls across the globe married in childhood is now estimated at 12 million a year. Unicef pointed that worldwide, an estimated 650 million women alive today were married off as children.

South Asia witnessed the largest decline in child marriages worldwide in the last decade as a girl’s risk of marrying before turning 18 dropped by more than a third. One in five girls are now married before they are 18, compared with one in four a decade ago.

According to the Unicef, increasing rates of girls’ education, proactive government investments in adolescent girls, and strong public messaging around the illegality of child marriage and the harm it causes are among the reasons for the shift. However, Unicef also noted that despite the overall decline in India, national and state averages mask realities at the district level as a few districts continue to have high rates of child marriage.

“The states with the highest prevalence of child marriage are Bihar, West Bengal and Rajasthan with close to 40 per cent prevalence.

“While Tamil Nadu and Kerala have prevalence below 20 per cent, they have pockets of disparity concentrated in tribal communities and amongst particular castes including the Schedule Castes,” the agency added.

“When a girl is forced to marry as a child she faces immediate and lifelong consequences. Her odds of finishing school decrease while her odds of being abused by her husband and suffering complications during pregnancy increase.

“There are also huge societal consequences, and higher risk of intergenerational cycles of poverty,” Anju Malhotra, Unicef’s principal gender adviser, said.

The report said that the burden of child marriage was shifting to sub-Saharan Africa, where more progress was needed to offset population growth. Nearly one in three child marriages were now in sub-Saharan Africa, compared with one in five a decade ago. World leaders have vowed to end child marriage by 2030 under the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Malhotra said that to meet that target, efforts had to be stepped up “to prevent millions of girls having their childhoods stolen through this devastating practice”.</s>From one in four to approximately one in five, child marriages have seen a decline world over in the past 10 years, a Unicef report released on Monday said.

The proportion of women who were married as children decreased by 15% in the last decade, with south Asia witnessing the largest decline (more than a third, from nearly 50% to 30%) owing largely to progress in India.

Increasing rates of girls’ education, proactive government investments in adolescent girls, and strong public messaging around the illegality of child marriage and the harm it causes are among the reasons attributed to the shift.

“When a girl is forced to marry as a child, she faces immediate and lifelong consequences. Her odds of finishing school decrease while her odds of being abused by her husband and suffering complications during pregnancy increase,” said Anju Malhotra, Unicef’s principal gender advisor.

“There are also huge societal consequences, and higher risk of intergenerational cycles of poverty,” she said, adding that “any reduction is welcome news, but we’ve got a long way to go”.

The total number of girls married in childhood is now estimated at 12 million a year, shows the data.

The new figures point to an accumulated global reduction of 25 million fewer marriages than would have been anticipated under global levels 10 years ago.

However, to end the practice by 2030 — the target set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — progress must be significantly accelerated. Without further acceleration, more than 150 million additional girls will marry before their 18th birthday by 2030.

Worldwide, an estimated 650 million women alive today were married as children.

While south Asia has led the way on reducing child marriage over the last decade, the global burden of child marriage is shifting to sub-Saharan Africa, where rates of progress need to be scaled up dramatically to offset population growth. Of the most recently married child brides, close to one in three are now in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to one in five a decade ago.

New data also points to the possibility of progress on the African continent. In Ethiopia — once among the top five countries for child marriage in sub-Saharan Africa — the prevalence has dropped by a third in the last 10 years.

“Each and every child marriage prevented gives another girl the chance to fulfill her potential,” said Malhotra.

“But given the world has pledged to end child marriage by 2030, we’re going to have to collectively redouble efforts to prevent millions of girls from having their childhoods stolen through this devastating practice.”</s>(CNN) -- Child marriages are declining, with the largest drop in South Asia, according to UNICEF.

Ten years ago, a South Asian girl's risk of getting married as a child was about 50%, but now that has fallen to about 30%. A UNICEF release Tuesday attributed the progress in India to increasing rates of girls' education, government investments and public messaging around the illegality of child marriage.

"Any reduction is welcome news, but we've got a long way to go," said Anju Malhotra, UNICEF's principal gender adviser.

Even with the declines, 12 million girls are married in childhood every year, according to UNICEF.

Globally, one in five women are married before they turn 18 years old. A decade ago, the rate had been one in four, UNICEF said Tuesday.

"While South Asia has led the way on reducing child marriage over the last decade, the global burden of child marriage is shifting to sub-Saharan Africa," according to UNICEF.

One in three recently married child brides are now in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to one in five a decade ago.

Poverty, ideas of family honor, social norms, customs and religious laws are factors that could force girls into child marriages.

But the consequences can be devastating. Marriages can rob girls of their childhood, compromise their development and put them at risk of early and complicated pregnancies. They often pay a heavy price in not getting an education or access to proper health care and economic opportunities.

Child marriages also occur in the US, and remains legal in every state because of a hodgepodge of exceptions that let minors get married with parental consent or judicial approval.</s>One of the biggest problems that have crippled India in the past is child marriage. Even though the problem still persists in the country, but there is hope that the country may eradicate the menace in coming years. A recent report from the United Nations Children’s Fund or UNICEF has stated that India has shown significant improvement in the last 10 years in the number of girls getting married before the age of 18.

India witnessed a sharp decline in child marriages in the last ten years. It fell from 47 per cent to 27 per cent of girls getting married before they turn 18. In fact, it is not just India, there has been a global decline in the child marriages. Girls married off as children decreased by 15 per cent in the last 10 years, from 1 in 4 to 1 in 5.

As per the statement issued by the child rights organisation, as many as 25 million child marriages were averted from 2005-06 and 2015-16. Globally, the major reduction in these marriages was seen in South Asia, especially India says UNICEF report.

The UNICEF report lauded the progress in India which helped the rate of child marriages fall from nearly 50 per cent to 30 per cent. The UN children’s agency attributed increasing rates of girls’ education, proactive government investments in adolescent girls and strong public awareness about the illegality of child marriage and the harm it causes are among the reasons for the decline. UNICEF’s Principal Gender Advisor, Anju Malhotra talked about the lifelong consequences when a girl child is forced to marry. Malhotra said that when a girl is married off as a child, the odds of her finished her education decreases. Malhotra also highlighted the girl child being ‘abused by her husband’ and mentioned ‘complications during pregnancy’. “There are many societal consequences. Also, there is a risk of intergenerational cycles of poverty,” said Anju Malhotra.</s>Almost 15% fewer girls get married before they turn 18 now than they did a decade ago, “in large part” due to progress in India, the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Tuesday. Marriages of girls in India have come down by nearly half in the past 10 years, Unicef said.

Globally, one in five girls are married before 18 now, as compared with one in four a decade ago, Unicef said. However, the number is still around 12 million girls a year, the data showed.

The UN agency also said that around 25 million marriages were prevented in the last decade. However, it warned that progress must be “significantly accelerated” to meet the targets under the Sustainable Development Goals. “Without further acceleration, more than 150 million additional girls will marry before their 18th birthday by 2030,” the organisation said.

“India constitutes more than 20% of the world’s adolescent population and accounts for the highest number of child marriages in South Asia given its size and population,” Javier Aguilar, Unicef’s chief of child protection, told Thomson Reuters Foundation. “In the current trend, 27% of girls, or nearly 1.5 million girls, get married before they turn 18 in India. This is a sharp decline from 47% a decade ago.”

The highest decline in marriages of underage girls in the last decade was reported in South Asia. The risk of a girl marrying before she turned 18 fell from nearly 50% to 30% in the region.

Unicef’s numbers were based on the comparison of data from its 2006 and 2016 health surveys, in which it asked women aged between 20 and 24 whether they had married before they turned 18.</s>An estimated 12 million girls under 18 are getting married every year globally, according to new data from UNICEF released on Tuesday.

The newly collated figures signal a 15 per cent drop in the last decade, from one in four to approximately one in five girls.

UNICEF warned that if child marriage continues at the current rate, more than 150 million girls across the world will marry before their 18th birthdays by 2030.

“When a girl is forced to marry as a child, she faces immediate and lifelong consequences.

“Her odds of finishing school decrease while her odds of being abused by her husband and suffering complications during pregnancy increase,” Anju Malhotra, UNICEF’s principal gender adviser, said in a statement.

In South Asia, there has been a decrease in the prevalence of child brides from 50 per cent ten years ago to 30 per cent today.

In sub-Saharan Africa there has also been a decline, with 43 per cent of women married in childhood ten years ago compared to 38 per cent today.

UNICEF said there has also been a shift in where the highest number of child brides are located, with close to one-third of all the most recently married child brides globally now in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to one in five a decade ago.

According to UNICEF, an estimated 650 million women alive today were married as children.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals sets out plans to end child marriage by 2030.</s>There has been significant drop globally in the practice as well, and 25 million child marriages have been prevented in the past decade worldwide, the UN Children's Fund said

New Delhi: There has been a significant drop in the number of child marriages in India -- from nearly 50 to 30 per cent -- in the last 10 years, a survey by UN children's agency Unicef showed on Tuesday.

There has been significant drop globally in the practice as well, and 25 million child marriages have been prevented in the past decade worldwide, the UN Children's Fund said.

According to the new data, the total number of girls across the globe married in childhood is now estimated at 12 million a year.

Unicef pointed that worldwide, an estimated 650 million women alive today were married off as children.

South Asia witnessed the largest decline in child marriages worldwide in the last decade as a girl's risk of marrying before turning 18 dropped by more than a third.

One in five girls are now married before they are 18, compared with one in four a decade ago.

According to the Unicef, increasing rates of girls' education, proactive government investments in adolescent girls, and strong public messaging around the illegality of child marriage and the harm it causes are among the reasons for the shift.

However, Unicef also noted that despite the overall decline in India, national and state averages mask realities at the district level as a few districts continue to have high rates of child marriage.

"The states with the highest prevalence of child marriage are Bihar, West Bengal and Rajasthan with close to 40 per cent prevalence.

"While Tamil Nadu and Kerala have prevalence below 20 per cent, they have pockets of disparity concentrated in tribal communities and amongst particular castes including the Schedule Castes," the agency added.

"When a girl is forced to marry as a child she faces immediate and lifelong consequences. Her odds of finishing school decrease while her odds of being abused by her husband and suffering complications during pregnancy increase.

"There are also huge societal consequences, and higher risk of intergenerational cycles of poverty," Anju Malhotra, Unicef's principal gender adviser, said.

The report said that the burden of child marriage was shifting to sub-Saharan Africa, where more progress was needed to offset population growth. Nearly one in three child marriages were now in sub-Saharan Africa, compared with one in five a decade ago.

World leaders have vowed to end child marriage by 2030 under the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Malhotra said that to meet that target, efforts had to be stepped up "to prevent millions of girls having their childhoods stolen through this devastating practice".

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever</s>A huge drop in the amount of girls getting married in India has contributed significantly to a global decline in child marriage.

The rate of child marriages in the country has nearly halved in a decade, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF said on Tuesday.

UNICEF said 25 million child marriages were prevented worldwide in the last decade, with the largest reduction seen in South Asia - where India was at the forefront.

UNICEF's chief of child protection Javier Aguilar said: "India constitutes more than 20 percent of the world's adolescent population and accounts for the highest number of child marriages in South Asia given its size and population.

"In the current trend, 27 percent of girls, or nearly 1.5 million girls, get married before they turn 18 in India.

"This is a sharp decline from 47 percent a decade ago," he said.

Child marriage adds to health, education and abuse risks, and increases the chance of intergenerational poverty, said Anju Malhotra, UNICEF's principal gender adviser, in a statement.

Malhotra added: "Given the life-altering impact child marriage has on a young girl's life, any reduction is welcome news, but we've got a long way to go."

Campaigners and officials attributed the drop in child marriages to better access to education for women and increased public awareness on the negative impact of child marriage.

UNICEF estimates that 12 million girls a year are married globally, and says more is needed to end the practice by 2030 - the target set under the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals.

UNICEF's conclusions on India came after comparing data from its 2006 and 2016 health survey that asked women in the 20-24 age group whether they had married before they turned 18.

It also took into account child marriage data from the 2011 census.

The legal age of marriage in India is 18 for women and 21 for men.

Last year the Supreme Court ruled that sex with an underage wife constituted rape.

India's Prohibition of Child Marriage Act imposes a fine of 100,000 Indian rupees (£1,100) and two years in prison for parents caught trying to marry off their underage children.

Despite the law, child marriage remains deeply rooted and accepted in society, and is widespread in parts of the country, reports the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Mahesh Bhagwat, police chief of Rachakonda district in Telangana, where child marriage is widespread and where wedding hall decorators and priests were enlisted last year to help combat it, said the law had made an impact.

"But things are still going on clandestinely," he said.

Jayna Kothari, executive director of the Bangalore-based Centre for Law & Policy Research, who has petitioned the government to declare child marriages invalid, said more action was needed.

"Better awareness of the Supreme Court's verdict would deter child marriages, and declaring them invalid would strengthen India's laws against them," she said.
A UNICEF report says that 20% of girls under 18 are married, compared to 25% ten years ago, with an estimated 25 million marriages having been prevented in the past decade.