Girl Child Marriage in Dharwad: Causes and Consequences on Health Status of Young Women
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Date
2016-06
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University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad
Abstract
A study on “Girl child marriage in Dharwad: causes and consequences on health status of young women” was carried out in Dharwad taluk, Dharwad district, Karnataka during 2015-16. Total of 106 respondents who married at the early age formed the population for the study. Self structured interview schedule-Part A, was used to know the causes and physical, psychological and sexual problems of child marriage. Part B, was used to know reproductive health status of the respondents. Socio- economic status scale was used to assess the family socio-economic status. Frequency, percentages, correlation coefficient and modified chi-square were used for data analysis. The results revealed that, most of the child marriages happened because of poor family income (61.00 %) followed by strengthening and maintaining kinship relationship (46.00 %). Around 40 per cent of the respondents said that marriage at an early age is problematic and 47 per cent of them did not know the legal age at marriage. Most of the respondents were not having good relationship with their husbands and in-laws. Respondents mentioned that their husbands alone make most of the household decisions. Majority of the respondents faced physical, psychological and sexual problems due to child marriage. Percentage of having disabled children was high among those who married below 15 years. As the age at marriage increases, menstruation problems, discomforts during pregnancy, pregnancy failures and complications during delivery decreases. Respondents who married at the age of less than 15 years had irregular check-ups, poor hemoglobin level during pregnancy and they had low birth weight babies than their other counterparts. Those who married after the age of 16-18 years had high scores on reproductive health index than their counterparts. Child marriage not only reduces the educational opportunities of girls but also increases the poor physical, mental and reproductive health status of women.