Child marriage

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Small Child Brides in the lap of their guardians

Child marriage is a practice in which the parents of two small children (even infants) arrange a future marriage. The children are betrothed or promised to each other. Often the two children never even meet each other until the wedding ceremony, when they are both of an acceptable marriageable age -- which age differs based upon custom. In some cultures, the age is at or even before the onset of puberty.

Child marriage has been practiced in many cultures for centuries. It continues to this day, although it has few advocates. Popular in sub-Saharan Africa and diminishing, but still occurring in rural Rajasthan (India), it was also common among the nobility of some countries, with betrothal used to secure political alliances in much the same way that marriage was.

In some cultures, arranged marriages are common. What differs here is the age at which the arrangement is made. The rationale behind this practice is that a child's parents can arrange a sensible match with the parents of a child from a suitable family, thus securing the child's future at a young age. Many people who have been married in this way do grow to love and cherish their spouses after the marriage. It is thought by adherents that physical attraction is not a suitable foundation upon which to build a marriage and a family.

A separate consideration is the age at which the wedding, as opposed to the engagement, takes place.

Families are able to cement political and/or financial ties by having children intermarry. The betrothal is considered a binding contract upon the families and the children. The breaking of a betrothal can have serious consequences for both the families and the children themselves. The practice of child marriage has continued to fall further and further out of favor in modern times; however, it is still practiced by some sub-cultures.

[edit] Child Marriage in South Asia

Child Marriage is illegal in India. According to Child Marriage Resistant Act, 1929, "child" refers to a male younger than twenty-one years of age, and a female younger than eighteen. Child Marriage encompasses any marriage in which either of the contracting parties is a child.

Most of the illegal child marriages in India take place in the Indian states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhatisgarh and Orissa.

Child marriage is also officially illegal in Pakistan, but nonetheless practised in some backward areas theough Vani (custom) and other ceremonies.