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Telangana Girls Fight Child Marriage: Hope Amidst Crisis
9 Oct
Summary
- Child marriage remains a challenge in Telangana due to poverty and social pressures.
- NFHS data shows a decline but many girls are still removed from school.
- Interventions stop weddings but often fail to alter root causes.
Despite a steady decline, child marriages continue in Telangana, with poverty and social pressures placing girls at risk. Interventions often stop weddings, but the underlying circumstances that make girls vulnerable are not always addressed.
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 (2019-2021) indicated 23.5% of women aged 20-24 in Telangana married before 18. By NFHS-6 (2023-24), this dropped to 17.9%. However, this decline does not fully capture girls withdrawn from school or prepared for early marriage.
In 2025-26, Telangana's Department of Women Development and Child Welfare prevented 1,245 child marriages. Between April and August of this year, another 825 were stopped. Child rights advocates stress that laws and helplines are insufficient without effective legal action.
Financial hardship is a key driver, but patriarchal attitudes, family honor, and restrictions on adolescent girls also contribute. Cases are reported in urban areas too, often detected by health workers and Anganwadi workers.
Medical professionals highlight that menstruation does not signify readiness for pregnancy. Adolescent pregnancies pose significant health risks to both mother and child, potentially affecting two generations. Early marriage also impacts psychological well-being.
Many parents are unaware of the health consequences or how marriage curtails a girl's independence. The desire for girls to be financially and educationally independent is often unmet when they are married off early.
