India contributes 33 per cent of the total number of child brides in the world with nearly 103 million Indians married before they were 18, said a report released on Friday.
An estimated 85.2 million of the 103 million were girls, said the Action Aid India report, “Eliminating Child Marriage in India: Progress And Prospects”, released by actor-activist Shabana Azmi.
At 103 million, the number of child marriages is more than the total population of Philippines (100 million) and Germany (80.68 million), stated the report, analysing data from Census 2011.
Of every 28 girl child marriages occurring per minute in the world, more than two take place in India. Elimination of girl child marriages can help avoid 27,000 neonatal deaths, 55,000 infant deaths and 1,60,000 child deaths, it said.
“Patriarchy is at the root of child marriage, and patriarchy has to be tackled completely to eliminate child marriage.
