National
Teenage girls in Achham launch campaign against child marriage
Teenage girls of Achham have launched a campaign against child marriage in the district.Menuka Dhungana
Teenage girls of Achham have launched a campaign against child marriage in the district.
School-going girls in various local units of Achham have started to launch awareness programmes against child marriage.
Pansara Thapa of Dhakari-3 said most of the students from grade 11 and 12 are raising awareness to reduce the rate of child marriage in the district.
“We have also been discussing about various problems related to women’s health, their legal provisions and punishment,” said Thapa.
Child marriage is still prevalent in many villages of the district.
“Many young girls are married off by their parents because of their superstitious beliefs and a lack of awareness. They are forced to marry under the pressure of their parents and relatives,” said Padma Shahi, a teenager in the district.
The girls are also involved in raising awareness on other social problems.
“We launch awareness programmes on alcohol abuse, gambling, polygamy and other gender-based violence in the district,” said Shahi, adding that their programmes inform teenagers regarding the drawbacks of early marriage.
Laxmi Saud, vice-chairperson of Dhakari Rural Municipality, said, “Eliminating child marriage is one of our long term development aim.” According to the Statistics Office in Doti, a majority of teenagers in the district get married between the age of 15-19.
According to the recently amended civil code, the minimum age for marriage in Nepal, for both women and men, is 20. Though child marriage was made illegal in Nepal in 1963, the practice is still rampant in remote villages. As per a Unicef data, Nepal has the third highest rate of child marriage in Asia.