Birhor Tribe Joins Movement Against Child Marriage | Jharkhand | 17 Dec 2024

Why in News? 

Recently, people belonging to the Birhor tribe, a particularly vulnerable tribal group in Jharkhand, have joined a movement against child marriage for the first time. 

 Key Points 

• Birhor Community: 
  • The Birhor people are a semi-nomadic tribal community, heavily forest-dependent, and economically and socially marginalized. 
  • For the first time, hundreds of Birhor community members in Jharkhand's Giridih district joined a movement against child marriage, a rampant practice within their community. 
• Awareness on Child Marriage Consequences: 
  • The Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRC) highlighted that the event marked the first awareness drive where the community was informed about the legalities and consequences of child marriage. 
  • Youth, children, women, and elders gathered under the glow of candles, taking a collective pledge to end child marriage and to report any such cases. 
• Support for Government Campaign: 
  • The marches were organized by Banvasi Vikas Ashram as part of the 'Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat' campaign, launched by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.  
    • Banvasi Vikas Ashram is one of 250 partner Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) under the JRC alliance. 
  • The ill effects of child marriage on children's health, education, and overall well-being were discussed to make the Birhor tribe aware of the social evil. 
    • JRC claimed to have stopped over 7,000 child marriages in Jharkhand between April and December 2024 through events in blocks, villages, and schools across all 24 districts. 
• High-Prevalence Districts: 
  • Jamtara, Deoghar, Godda, Giridih, Koderma, and Dumka were identified as districts with a higher prevalence of child marriage cases.