Visakhapatnam records rise in child marriages & UNICEF identifies Andhra Pradesh for ground work

Child marriages are still happening and happening right here in Visakhapatnam. Andhra Pradesh, among 4 states identified for ground work by UNICEF.

Recently, January 24th which is declared as the National Girl Child Day had various voluntary organizations in Visakhapatnam bemoan and protest the evils of child marriages and sex determination tests that are still happening in Visakhapatnam and Andhra Pradesh. A campaign was organized on the occasion of the National Girl Child Day to bring awareness in the society towards the development of girls to lead a respectable life.

The UNICEF which has done extensive work for welfare, upliftment and development is now looking at a focused approach in some states of India. UNICEF has identified four states of India which are Assam, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh for girls’ capacity development program. The district coordinator for UNICEF, ST Sunanda has shed light on this development. This campaign is covering ground in Visakhapatnam also in 5 mandals along with other places in Andhra Pradesh.

As per Deccan Chronicle, a UNICEF survey conducted in 2016-17 reveals the following – “There are 19,000 adolescent girls in the five mandals including Chodavaram and Gajuwaka. Over 499 women were married off before they turned 18, 141 teen pregnancies took place and 157 adolescents became mothers. There were about 980 school dropouts in the age bracket of 16-18 years in these five mandals.”