Child Marriage in South Asian Countries

Abstract

Mature age is considered the most suitable age for marriage in the world but there is no exact age to enter marriage for a girl in the world, and it differs from country to country. When early marriage is discussed, the attention always focuses on girls because they absolutely become destitute with marriage. Having considered the issues related to child marriage most countries have determined the age for marriage in order to maintain the social security and protection of children. Mature age is highly considered for marriage because it is believed that he/she should be able to adapt the marriage life in both biological and psychological manners. Especially once a girl becomes mature, she will get an opportunity to enter marriage life and should be able to take responsibility in marriage life. Otherwise, the marriage life would be unpleasant; therefore, it is highly considered that marriage should not happen at an early age because it makes many difficulties for young girls. The majority of people all over the world believe that marriage should occur when a girl becomes mature. Whenever a young girl enters marriage she has to relinquish education and other child rights vested by universal rights. Child marriage which occurs everywhere in the world even today has become a tremendous issue in developing countries like South Asia. And it has also brought many hard issues to the girls who entered early marriages. Understanding the negative impact of child marriage, many countries have decided to stop it by introducing legal actions. Although child marriage is constrained by law in many countries, many child marriage cases are reported worldwide. It is vitally important to understand the situation of child marriage in the world and Asian countries to solve this issue. The objective of this article is to examine child marriage in South Asian countries and its nature.