The analysis, by Sudipa Sarkar of Warwick University, makes use of knowledge from a nationally consultant family panel survey, which interviewed people twice—in 2005 and 2012—to know the perceptions about crime of their locality.

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The examine finds {that a} household’s choice to marry a daughter underage is influenced majorly by native crimes towards ladies, whereas gender-neutral crimes resembling theft, housebreaking and threats didn’t present any vital hyperlink. However, crimes towards ladies don’t affect the age at which males are prone to marry. The authors word that the stigma towards sexually harassed ladies could be very excessive within the “marriage market”. Other studies have shown that men in South Asia give more importance to their spouse’s sexual purity at marriage than their physical appearance.

Sarkar’s study finds that the link between high crime rates and early marriage is strong in families that restrict women’s mobility more or practise the purdah system, in which women have to cover their face while speaking to strangers or other men. The practice is also stronger in northern India.

While poverty, gender bias at the workplace and other socioeconomic factors have been cited as a reason for early marriage, the study adds crime as a unique factor to the research on this phenomenon. Several policies have been created to prevent child marriages, yet India has more than a third of the global underage brides. This study suggests that policymakers also look at local-level safety and crimes against women while formulating policies to prevent underage marriages.

Read more: Local crime and early marriage Evidence from India

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