Marital Age and Fecundity as Predictors of Gender-Based Violence in Uttarakhand, India

Every year, nearly 12 million girls are married before they reach the age of 18 years. India is home to one-third of the child brides of the world. Various laws instituted to ban early marriage since the pre-independence era seem to have proven inadequate. Many of these girls find themselves unable to exercise their financial, sexual, reproductive and human rights and become victims of gender-based violence, adolescent pregnancy, birth-related injuries, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV, trafficking and early death. Inability to avail contraception many times results in hyper-fecundity endangering the life of the mother and the child, while at the same time, the birth of a girl child increases the odds of violence against the young mother. Aims and objectives are (1) to estimate the prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) among women married as minors in Dehradun district and (2) to associate marital age and fecundity to GBV in the Dehradun district. Methodology: The community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted for one year, i.e. from May 2015 to April 2016, using multistage random sampling method, amongst 880 ever-married women aged 15–49 years, in the rural and urban areas of Dehradun district. A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire [modified version of questionnaire from United States Agency for International Development (USAID)] used in the Violence Against Women Survey (VAWS) by Statistics Canada—Housing, Family and Social Statistics Division was used to carry out the survey. After ensuring confidentiality and building rapport, informed consent was obtained and an in-depth interview was conducted. Results: Of the surveyed sample of 880 women, 19.7% of the surveyed women were married before the age of 18. This figure was highest in urban slums, where 36.8% of women married before the age of 18, followed by urban areas (18.2%) and 11.8% in rural areas. The prevalence of GBV was found to be higher in women who had married before 18 years of age (43.4%) than in women who had married after 18 years (17.5%). The prevalence of GBV was found to be high among respondents who had five or more children. The highest prevalence was seen in women with 3–4 daughters (60.9%) and the lowest prevalence in women with no daughters (16.3%). Conclusion: Childhood, early and forced marriages (CEFM) gravely threaten human rights. CEFM itself is a form of GBV that forces minor girls into unwanted pregnancies, birth injuries and inter-partner violence, reducing them to an MMR statistic. Strict laws have not been able to curb this practice. An equal opportunity for education, financial independence, decision-making and participation will show the way forward.