Let us join hands in bringing an end to one of the most severe violations of children’s rights – child marriage.

All of us – NGOs and Children’s organisations - have been grappling with the enormous scale and intensity of the social malady of child marriage. Every year, thousands of young girls and boys are siphoned off into a world of slavery and abuse under the guise of so-called ‘marriage’. They undergo appalling mental, physical and psychological trauma, being compelled to take on responsibilities far beyond the limits of their capabilities and maturity. The girls, exposing their underdeveloped bodies to substantial harm, often bear children, who either die prematurely or grow up to be enfeebled adults. The boys have to shoulder the financial responsibility of a wife and oftentimes a child, forcing them to take up jobs that might be hazardous or unsafe for them. Both the girls and the boys, from a very young age, conform to a life of domesticity and routine, unable to explore their potential and all the possibilities and opportunities that should be available to any young person in this world.

We have been fighting an uphill battle to tackle this deep-seated tradition head on. We have developed strategies to address the root causes of child marriage, which have shown communities various alternatives to marrying off their children at young ages. However, our success in this area of intervention has been limited due to several reasons – the biggest obstacle among them being the apathy of the State to address the issue.

During our endeavours, we have repeatedly found that the State has been guilty of dereliction of its duty. The State Government, elected members, the District Administration and the police have all turned a blind eye to the practice of child marriage even when actively requested to take action. We have also come across cases where people in positions of responsibility and power have actively colluded to conduct child marriages and have gone scot-free, when they were brought to the notice of the District Administration, the District police and the media.

The State’s apathy sets our work back by many decades. It violates children's rights and leaves them even less protected than they are from the vagaries of the adult world, which is supposed to act in their best interests. It defies all logic and reason besides rubbishing reams of research on the ill-effects of child marriage, numerous SC judgements against the practice, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the expressed opinions of many children against this atrocity.

We at CWC, Bhima Sangha (a working children’s union) and Namma Sabha (youth group of ex-child workers) are planning to launch a state-wide campaign to demand for immediate Government action to end the practice of Child marriages in Karnataka. We have submitted a petition to the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and concerned government officials asking them to take serious note of this issue. We are urging all prominent media establishments to step up their coverage of this issue. Leading journalists have agreed to write feature articles. We are developing awareness material in multiple languages, for easy dissemination amongst the public. Most importantly, children’s own organisations are also getting involved in this campaign by sending their own petitions, producing their own material and raising their voices against this evil.

The final leg of our campaign will include a rally to the Vidhana Soudha on November 14^th to demand for a pro-active policy to combat child marriage, a policy that is worthy of the attention and sincerity that is long overdue to the children of this country.

We know that many of you are concerned about this issue and wish to support the cause of its elimination in any way that is possible. As such, we urge you to:

• Send letters to the press about your concerns.

• Write to the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister at the following addresses expressing your outrage at the continued complacency of the government in addressing this issue:

If enough of us act together, the necessary pressure will be put on the Government to take constructive action in this regard.