Success of Community Radio in Addressing Child Marriage in Purulia, West Bengal, India: Abstract

"...a campaign against early marriage, highlighting the hazards of early marriage, for the education of the adolescents and their parents and a sensitization programme of the Santhali (Tribal) priests called Laya, and Hindu priests called Puruhit who have been solemnizing marriages in the area, implanting in them the legal formalities that are to be observed and the why and how of them."

This presentation for the International SBCC Summit 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 8-10, describes measures taken to prevent early marriage among girls in Purulia, India.

From the abstract:
"India has the second-highest number of child marriages in South Asia (UNICEF 2014). Earlier UNICEF reported that West Bengal is one of the top four states with respect to child marriage (2013). It showed that 54.7 percent of total marriages are that of minor girls. This means 27,082 minor girls get married in the State. As per another report of UNICEF (2011) Purulia is among the four worst districts with 54.03 percent child marriages. The first-ever NGO run Community Radio started to operate in Purulia in the year 2010 with support from UNICEF. The community reporters have been reporting many issues including early marriage problem which came into the fore when the incidence of child marriages is being reported frequently getting initiated with some minor girls resisting their marriages. At this juncture it was decided that a two-pronged strategy is to be evolved and applied to address the issue. First, a campaign against early marriage, highlighting the hazards of early marriage, for the education of the adolescents and their parents and a sensitization programme of the Santhali (Tribal) priests called Laya, and Hindu priests called Puruhit who have been solemnizing marriages in the area, implanting in them the legal formalities that are to be observed and the why and how of them.

Key highlights:
A pre-and-post survey was conducted among Laya and Purohit to assess the impact of the programme. There is significant increase in the knowledge level of the Layas regarding the law and consequences of child marriage (p-value 0.01). There are also considerable change in information level related to Government Programmes that are available. Purohits have also significantly enriched their knowledge related to the issue (p-value 0.01)."