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Thiruvananthapuram: The women’s wing of CPM, the All India Democratic Women’s Association, on Friday protested the decision of the Union Cabinet to raise the age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21 years. Instead of empowering women, the new amendment will hamper the rights and privacy of girls, opined AIDWA.
“It will act as a way to control the sexuality of a young girl, who already faces an uphill task to marry someone of her choice. Studies have shown and we know from our experience that criminalization of consensual sexual activity between young persons has often led to charges of kidnapping, rape and other crimes including under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, leading to the breaking of these unions and incarceration of the young man involved. Such a measure will therefore result in affecting the basic constitutional rights of women to privacy and autonomy,” elucidated AIDWA in their statement.
AIDWA had earlier raised their demand to reduce the age of marriage for boys to 18 as it is an age recognised by the constitution to set foot in contracts. The organisation also appealed to the Centre to scrap the recent change in marriageable age for girls.
“This move, ostensibly for ‘women’s empowerment, will be totally ineffective in a situation where the government has failed to meet even the most basic nutritional, educational and employment needs of the people,” read the statement.
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