India, which has\u00a0more child brides than any nation in the world, has decided not to co-sponsor\u00a0a United Nations initiative to end child marriage.<\/p>\n
The proposal — the first ever U.N. Human Rights Council resolution against the practice of child, early and forced marriages — has already been\u00a0co-sponsored by 107 other countries on multiple continents.\u00a0Adopted Sept. 27 in New York, the motion\u00a0recognizes child marriage as a human rights violation\u00a0and pledges to eliminate the practice, as part of the U.N.’s post-2015 global development agenda.<\/p>\n
India reportedly refused to sponsor the measure because of the resolution’s\u00a0vague definition of “early marriage,”\u00a0The Hindustan Times reports.\u00a0“Since early marriage has not been defined anywhere, there was no clarity on the legal implication” of co-sponsoring the resolution, an Indian government official said, per the Times.<\/p>\n
But some say that’s the wrong move for the South Asian country.\u00a0\u201cEarly marriage cuts short [girls\u2019] education, places them at risk of domestic abuse and marital rape, and\u00a0makes them economically dependent,\u201d Human Rights Watch South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly told TIME.\u00a0Although the legal age for marriage in India is 18, its\u00a024 million underage child bridesconstitute nearly half of all child brides in the world, according to The Times of India.<\/p>\n