Payal

#YoungChangemakers – Meet Payal Working To Abolish Child Marriage In Rajasthan

Payal - Working to abolish Child Marriage

At the tender age of 11, when most children are busy with their daily dose of homework, little Payal had to fight the most difficult battle with her own parents. Hailing from Hinsla village which is 100 km from Jaipur, she relented against being married off and was able to stop her child marriage by raising her voice against her parents’ will. At 11, she did not know what child marriage meant, but she had heard her mentors speak about the ill effects of child marriage and she immediately reported it to Sumedha Kailash, a well-known child rights activist who helped her negotiate with her parents to stop the child marriage. Ever since then, Payal Jangid has tirelessly worked to eradicate child marriage in her village and the nearby villages. 

The gritty 17-year-old has mobilised groups of children to fight against the caste, panchayat system and societal systems to win the battle against child marriage. She has not only stopped parents from forcing their children to get into child marriage, but urged them to send their daughters to school. 

Payal was elected as the leader of the child parliament; a youth forum that escalates issues to the Mayor. Earlier in September this year, Payal became the first Indian to receive the changemaker award by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2017, she also received the Young Achiever Award by Reebok

In a video posted on the international NGO’s Twitter account, Payal described, “We have a lot of problems in our village, especially girls are not allowed to go out and study and they are married off early. Even I was forced to get married.”

Talking about the initiatives, she added, “We would organise rallies, posters, paint walls, go house to house, speak to the families. We had to work really hard to make the elders realise that they were prohibiting us from getting our education.”

In Rajasthan and many parts of India, child marriage is still seen as a ritual more than a crime. According to the fourth National Family Health Survey (2015-16) of India, 27% of females are less than 18 years are married off and in Rajasthan alone, the percentage of girls is 35. Payal is carving a path and inspiring more and more girls to remain in schools instead of getting married.

Photo Credits : Getty Images

Words By : Leher

Leher

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