CULTURAL
HOW INDIAN CULTURE CONTRIBUTES
TO CHILD BRIDES
GENDER INEQUALITY
EDUCATION
Because of the belief that girls are inferior to boys, parents often choose to only send their sons to school or only feed their sons good food which enables them to concentrate and learn better (Gorney, 2011). Girls are then either taken out of school or never even get the chance to go in the first place, and are forced to stay home and learn the domestic duties of a wife instead of getting a proper education. This makes them much more vulnerable to becoming a child bride (Malhotra, 2010).
The main reason why girls are vulnerable to being married off at a young age is because women are not seen as equal to men, therefore, boys are valued more than girls. In fact,
300,000 - 600,000 female fetuses get terminated each year in India because they're seen as that big of a burden on families (Udas, 2013).
This massive cultural institution of gender inequality "drastically devalue[s] the roles women play in the traditional society" (Foundation for Sustainable Development, n.d.) and is also the root of most of the other factors that lead to child marriage.
One study showed "that girls with no education were up to six times more likely to marry as children than girls who had received secondary education" (Council on Foreign Relations). This lack of education impedes women's wage-earning potential and leaves them with even less power and even more reliant on their husbands.
VIOLENCE
Rape in India is staggering, and losing your virginity before you're married in Indian culture is absolutely unacceptable (Gorney, 2011). Rapes often go unreported because victims are fearful that there will be backlash from the community if they found out that a woman lost her virginity before she was married or was involved in any infidelity if she is married (Takashi, 2015). A daughter losing her virginity before marriage or committing adultery when she is married jeopardizes the family's honor, so parents think that if their daughter gets married at a young age (right when puberty hits), it will help ensure that she loses her virginity to her husband instead of committing fornication. Along with losing family honor, "nonvirgins are considered ruined for marriage" (Gorney, 2011), which means her own family would have to keep her and use their resources on her, when they want to save it for their sons. Fathers genuinely think they're doing to right thing to marry their daughters off to protect them from the social ostracism that would occur if they lost their virginity to someone they weren't married to.
Domestic abuse is also very common in India. Girls who are married young are more likely to be physically, emotionally, and sexually abused. One study found that "more than half of Indian adolescent males think it is justifiable to beat a wife"(Udas, 2013). This attitude is tied back to the societal belief that women are inferior to men. Another study showed that "girls who married before age 18 reported experiencing physical violence twice as often, and sexual violence three times as often as girls who married at a later age" (Malhotra, 2010). Along with that, they become more vulnerable to threats of abandonment and divorce (Malhotra, 2010).
TRADITION
There isn't just one specific religion that allows the practice of child marriage (Council on Foreign Relations, 2013), instead, "child marriage is a traditional practice that happens simply because it has happened for generations" (Girls not Brides, n.d.). When girls hit puberty, they become women in the eyes of the community., and therefore, marriage is thought to be the next step towards developing a woman's role in society. This traditional practice often goes unquestioned because it has been part of India's identity for such a long time. (Girls not Brides, n.d.). Female family members often encourage the practice simply because they had to do it themselves, and they know no other way of life (Gorney, 2011).