#MoreThanJustBrides – A model for fostering the health and well-being of married adolescent girls and girls at risk of child, early and forced marriage
The YWCA of India, in collaboration with the Society for Participatory Research in India (PRIA), conducted a study on early and forced marriage in January 2016. The study covered three villages in Sonipat district—Jharoti, Mahra and Rehmana—along with Ward 5 of Sonipat town, and two villages in Panipat district—Namunda and Manana. Interviews were conducted with married and unmarried girls between the ages of 14 and 25. The findings showed that child marriage remained prevalent in Haryana.
From the study, it was found that:
- Of the 105 married respondents, 15% were 18 years old or younger and had children. A further 3.8% had been married before the age of 10, while 59% had been married between the ages of 15 and 17.
- 54% of the married respondents said that they had been forced to marry. Of these, 47% said that poverty was a reason for the forced marriage. Some explained that when an elder sister or brother was getting married, they were married at the same time to reduce expenses. Another 38.5% said that their parents believed marrying their daughter early would bring social acceptance in the village, while 23% said they were married early because their families felt it was unsafe for a single girl to remain unmarried.
- 70% of the participants said that their husbands had forced them to have sexual intercourse on the first night of marriage. Many of these girls said they were unaware of sexual intercourse and were shocked by the expectation that it would occur within marriage.
- 88% of the participants were not aware of family-planning methods at the time of their marriage.
- When asked about their age at first pregnancy, 56% reported being between 15 and 17 years old, 29% between 18 and 20, 8% below 15, and 6% between 21 and 23.
- 58% of the participants said that they had their first baby at home.
- 25% said that their mothers-in-law had helped them give birth to their first child at home, while another 25% said that a village dai had assisted with the birth.
- 37% said that their first pregnancy had ended in miscarriage, 14% said that their first baby had been born prematurely or with an illness, and 5% said that they had given birth to a stillborn baby.
Based on these findings, the YWCA of India and PRIA identified a need for intervention in these areas. The project aimed to work with girls who were at risk of child marriage or who were already married and had children. Child brides can face disempowerment, dependence on husbands or in-laws, and loss of access to fundamental rights including education, health and safety.
In collaboration with the State Education Department, the project worked towards greater awareness, sensitivity and positive behavioural change around the following themes:
- Adolescent health and hygiene
- Safety and security of girls in schools and in the community
- Gender awareness and sensitivity among boys and girls
Various fun-based activities were conducted to sensitize young people to stereotypical gender roles, adolescent health and hygiene, and related issues. These activities contributed to a number of changes among the youth.
Equal Partnership Between Boys and Girls: Sports and other activities helped young people understand the importance of equal partnership between boys and girls. Participants began supporting one another and working together more closely.
Attitudinal Change and Personal Responsibility: Sessions helped participants identify gender relations in their own surroundings. Consequently, many students took personal responsibility for questioning gender norms in their schools and families.
Leadership Among Students: Many students took ownership of bringing other students to the sessions and assisted trainers during the training programmes.
Formation of Hinsa Yuva Nikrani Committee
An unsafe environment for girls is identified in the project as one of the factors contributing to child marriage. Concerns about girls’ safety can lead families to marry their daughters at an early age because they believe this will protect their daughters’ safety and social reputation. The project therefore used a Participatory Safety Audit (PSA) to identify safe, unsafe and moderately safe places for girls in their villages through community discussion. The findings of the PSA were shared with community leaders, sarpanches and panches to seek their support in making the villages safer for women and girls.
Youth leaders presented recommendations to panchayat members. Following discussions and negotiations, the youth leaders and the panchayat reached a consensus to establish a Hinsa Yuva Nikrani Committee. The main objective of the committee was to contribute to the safety of girls within the village.
Freedom to Play
Freedom to Play was an introductory sports camp developed to reach a large number of young people and bring boys and girls together through sports. The aim was to introduce young people to the values of the #MoreThanJustBrides programme and identify interested participants who could become mentors to other young people as part of the programme’s Mentor-Mentee initiative.
The camps brought boys and girls together to play sports, express themselves freely, and develop skills including leadership, team-building, communication and equality.
Through these workshops, young people questioned social norms that can restrict women’s freedom and contribute to early marriage. Many girls voiced their opinions, while boys also showed strong support.
The youth leaders were appreciated by the sarpanch for their work to end violence against women and girls. The sarpanch also took an oath to work towards ending violence against women in the village.
Liaison with Universities
A group of students and a professor from O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonipat, visited the youth groups of boys and girls to research the status of child marriage in India.
Broad Objectives of the Visit:
- To build an understanding of the use of participatory research methods in community-based research.
- To build an understanding of issues related to violence against women (VAW).