India has articulated its commitment to eliminating child marriage through numerous policies, laws and programmes; yet, more than one in four young women aged 20-24 was married in childhood (below age 18), and lack of voice in marriage-related decision-making abounds. The persistence of child marriage remains a potential deterrent to India’s likelihood of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 by 2030. The lack of effective programme strategies to delay marriage and empower girls in marriage-related decision-making is a major challenge.
Aangan Trust is empowering women to lead the charge in their communities to protect children from trafficking, underage marriage, dangerous employment, violence, and exploitation. They bring together social systems such as schools, police, village councils, and others to ensure the safety of vulnerable children.
One of the issues that the organisation focuses on is preventing child marriages. Despite being illegal, over 100 million girls are at risk of child marriage over the next ten years.
Helming this movement is a team of steadfast, skilled volunteers, all of them women, some who were child brides themselves.
Aangan Trust works in nine districts across India with high rates of child trafficking, hazardous labour, early marriage, and violence. It provides rigorous training for volunteers, equipping them with the confidence to speak with people in authority. Piyali Mondal, a volunteer, no longer feels scared when going to places like the BDO office, police station, or panchayat.
Piyali has been a volunteer for eight years and has a desire to help others. Srabonti Ghosh, one of Aangan Trust’s state coordinators, is part of the team that trains the volunteers. Aangan Trust chooses to work exclusively with women because they understand the risks that vulnerable children face and want to put the power of decision-making back in their hands. Piyali has been a volunteer for eight years and has a desire to help others in the same situation.
Volunteers learn about the problems that have been accepted as normal since their youth during a year-long training programme. They receive training in data gathering, communication, and public speaking. Armed with the knowledge, the women use “whisper circles” – informal, secure spaces for exchanging information about potential child marriages, child labour, and domestic violence – to quickly identify children at risk. Srabonti believes that the safety network is strengthen through these unofficial networks.
As the Aangan Trust volunteers gain trust and respect within their communities, Srabonti believes that the women are changing the old status quo — where domestic violence, abandonment and child marriage were a “normal” part of life — and building a better, safer future.