Child marriages are a form of gendered violence, leading to devastating consequences on the overall wellbeing of young girls. Even before COVID-19, Eastern Indian states recorded some of the highest rates of early marriage, with factors like class inequalities, caste, social norms specific to the region and patriarchal control of young girls’ agency, contributing to this. And now, with schools being closed for over a year, girls have not only been ‘locked out’ of learning, but are being considered an economic burden by poor parents, leaving them all the more vulnerable to child marriage.
 
Centre for Catalyzing Change (C3), through our Sakshamaa initiative, in collaboration with Xavier’s Institute of Social Service (XISS) Ranchi, in the third webinar in the Series, ‘Impact of Early Marriage on Life Choices of Young Women in Eastern India’  delved deeper into the insights, deep-seated issues, solutions and recommendations.