Preeja Prasad By Express News Service BENGALURU: As part of the Asia Pacific Social Work Conference on Thursday, a symposium was conducted on forced child marriages. Victims shared their personal experiences at the event. Interestingly, out of 3,077 girls, who were forced to marry at a young age, in 53% of these cases, the boy is below the marriageable age of 21. The symposium highlighted that boys were victims of child marriage as well and were unaware of the consequences of getting into such a union. Child Rights Committee Chairperson Anjali Ramannan raised the question of bringing in help for boys as they are tried as adults. “Boys also need to be rehabilitated as they are as much victims as girls,” she said. Nina Nayak, former State Commissioner, Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said that the state urgently needed a family policy. “Right now, we are focussing on women and children and there are laws protecting them. However, even in these laws, there is a bifurcation for people from SC/ST communities. What is needed is bringing in all family members and counselling them to break the social traditions of child marriage,” she told The New Indian Express. She also added that the state budget covered less than 70 per cent of women and children. “Rallies are being conducted, especially in North Karnataka, on gender sensitisation for boys,” Nina said at the event. As of now, Terre des Hommes, an NGO which focuses on child exploitation and is part of the project ‘IMAGE’ project works in five districts- Chamarajanagara, Chikkabalapura, Belagavi, Bagalkote, and Bidar.

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