International Development Journalism Competition: Indian girls persuade parents they are too young for marriage
Dressed in crisp white saris, 14-year-old Seema and 13-year-old Rumi giggle together outside the adolescent girls' club in their tea plantation village in Dibrugarh, north-east India. For the friends, the blue-painted clubhouse is more than just somewhere to socialise – it's where they are forging bonds that are transforming their futures.
After learning that Seema's family were planning an early marriage for her, Rumi and other club members began a concerted campaign of visits to her parents and grandmother. The teenagers' well-informed arguments convinced the family to let Seema complete her education and wait till she was emotionally and physically ready to become a wife and mother.
"Now it's not our time to get married," explains Rumi, a confident girl with dark wavy hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. "We'll not get to play. We'll not get to go to school."
Marriage under 16 is illegal in India, but a national survey last year showed almost half of girls were younger when married. Local police turn a blind eye to what is a commonly accepted practice, especially in rural areas like Dibrugarh.
The UN considers child marriage a human rights violation that curtails a girl's education and can condemn her to a life of poverty. Adolescent childbirth is dangerous. UN figures show that girls under 15 are five times more likely to die in labour than those in their 20s, while the child of a teenage mother is less likely to survive till their first birthday.
With limited power, young married girls are vulnerable to domestic violence. A 2004 study in two Indian states found girls married before 18 were twice as likely to report beatings by their husbands and three times more likely to report being forced to have sex than older brides.
To spread the message that early marriage is unacceptable, NGOs including Unicef are working with regional government bodies across India to set up Adolescent Girls' Clubs Against Child Marriage. In Dibrugarh district alone, more than 16,000 girls are registered in 460 clubs.
Their influence is helping persuade traditional child marriage advocates such as Seema's grandmother of the value of postponing. "We now know difficulties can arise, like girls getting married at an early age may have problems giving birth," she says. "Before, such things were not discussed at all."
Unicef India's Child Protection Officer, Jose Bergua, says the clubs succeed because they get people talking more openly about early marriage and its consequences. "A harmful social practice like child marriage occurs for many reasons, but one of them is a taboo around debating it," he says. "Everybody believes the community expects them to behave a certain way, even if many individuals privately disagree. Breaking the silence around child marriage is vital."
Club networks offer a lifeline to girls facing early marriages, he adds, giving them the courage to resist family pressure. They also support parents concerned that defying community expectations will leave their daughters ostracised and branded 'unmarriageable'.
Many families believe early marriage will safeguard their children's future. "A post-puberty unmarried girl is usually viewed as a ticking time-bomb," explains Indian broadcaster and women's expert Mrinal Pande. "Most parents heave a sigh of relief if they can transfer the burden."
"One reason for early marriage in poor villages and urban slums is the constant threat of violence," she continues. "Unmarried girls left alone while parents work are highly vulnerable to being raped or coerced into sexual relationships."
"There's a pan-Indian custom that if one girl in the family brings dishonour, her sisters' marriage proposals will be turned down. Early marriage precludes that possibility, families feel."
Pande believes poverty is the main reason for child marriages. Marrying girls young is cheaper. Families can avoid paying high dowry fees that increase with age. In regions like Rajasthan mass-weddings of adolescent sisters are common as parents cut costs with a one-off ceremony. Girls from poor households are almost twice as likely to marry before 18 as girls in higher income homes, according to anti-poverty charity International Center for Research on Women (ICRW).
To counter this, an Indian government programme in northern Haryana state is offering poor families a long-term cash bond, to be redeemed if their daughters remain unmarried when they turn 18. ICRW's child marriage campaigner Anju Malhotra will evaluate how successful the new 'Apni Beti, Apna Dhan' (My Daughter, My Wealth) scheme has been when the first group celebrate that milestone next year.
"In a growing economy, there's good reason to hope the cash incentive will trump cultural and traditional concerns," she says. "It might be the nudge parents on the verge of making that mental shift need – especially as they see more girls at school and moving around the community and realise it's becoming acceptable to keep unmarried teenage daughters at home."  
"The idea is that as more parents begin thinking that way, fears about sexual exploitation, reputation and bucking custom start to recede.  The money could also allay worries over expensive dowries."
Malhotra believes educating girls and communities is helping to change attitudes, but too slowly. "We need big solutions to eliminate child marriage," she says. "National infrastructure, government incentives – things that will work repeatedly, benefitting millions of girls."
She hopes that if the cash pilot scheme shows the rupees are well spent, politicians will be convinced to roll it out nationwide. The Indian government is committed to eliminating child marriage, but Unicef's Bergua describes its response as "lukewarm", given low priority and limited resources.
But there's hope for India's child brides. Malhotra and Bergua agree that ending early marriage is entirely possible. "We know it can be done," says Malhotra. "Ideally within 15 years, certainly in 25." She cites countries like Taiwan where bold policies and heavy investment in education and health made child marriage virtually disappear within a generation.
"Every child who gets married is a tragedy," says Bergua. "But every child like Seema whose marriage is prevented is a tremendous victory for India. And more of those are happening every day."

This feature was written for the Guardian International Development Journalism competition before 13 June 2011.