What’s Age Got To Do With It: Key Takeaways

In June 2020, the Indian government established a Task Force to review the minimum legal age of marriage for girls. One proposal under consideration is to increase the minimum age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21. This has spurred an energetic mobilization by a wide cross-section of advocates for women’s rights, youth rights, and child rights — revealing considerable concern and skepticism about the proposed change.

Why would increasing the age of marriage for girls spark resistance? What lessons does the civil society mobilization in India have for advocates and decision makers in other contexts?

RESURJ’s Executive Coordinator, Marisa Viana, was part of the conversation, along with other speakers, where she discussed RESURJ’s work around adolescents rights and autonomy in the context of Beyond Criminalization campaign.