Legal Age of Marriage for Women

The Parliament increased the minimum age for marriage realizing the urge to evolve the law according to the changing times and evolution of the society. Women should be given equal opportunity to earn and be equal to men but the same is not possible when the women’s marriageable age is not at par with men’s. All in all this legislation The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 brings out the importance of gender parity backed by the social acceptance that women of today’s era are equal in all aspects be it socially, culturally or even economically. Recently in this context, the Parliament had debated on the bill, which raised the age of legal marriage for women from 18 to 21, shall apply to all communities in the country and, once enacted, will supersede existing marriage and personal laws. The Bill was introduced in LokSabha by Smriti Irani, Union Minister for Women and Child Development. Irani said the proposed legislation was secular. “All women from all faiths, under Hindu Marriage Act or the Muslim Personal Law, should get equal rights to marry,” she said.

The difference of marriageable age between men and women has no scientific reason, or logic behind it rather seems to have a misogynistic approach that perpetrates de jure and de facto inequality against women. Almost all the statutes like the Indian Christian Marriage Act, the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, the Special Marriage Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act were responsible for the discriminatory bar. The proposal for equal marriageable age, i.e. to raise the age for marriage for women was made based on recommendations by the 10 member Task Force Committee that was headed by former Samata Party leader, Jaya Jaitley set up by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.  Emphasizing the importance of gender parity, equality and empowerment, she contended that the same cannot begin if there are some age differences. If the voting age is the same then marriageable age should be the same as well.  Read more