A one-day workshop was organized at Pawan Brick Kiln, Haripura under the joint aegis of Bal va Mahila Chetna Samiti and Director Action for Women Now, in which important topics like child marriage, education, poverty and gender inequality were discussed.

Women working at brick kilns and their daughters participated in this workshop. Organization President Tara Ahluwalia was the keynote speaker, who elaborately highlighted the social, economic and physical effects of child marriage. Ahluwalia said in her address that the main reasons for child marriage are poverty, lack of education, gender inequality, social traditions and feeling of insecurity. Due to financial constraints, parents marry their daughters early so that they can be free from their responsibilities. Also, due to lack of education, people are unaware of the ill effects of child marriage. Gender discrimination prevalent in the society also promotes child marriage, where girls are considered a burden and are tied in the bond of marriage at an early age. Sometimes social pressure and a sense of insecurity also force parents to do so.

Child marriage has many negative effects, the biggest of which is being deprived of education. Most girls leave their studies after marriage, which limits their development prospects. Apart from this, marriage and pregnancy at a young age have a serious impact on their health, which increases maternal and infant mortality. The risk of domestic violence and exploitation also increases, because young girls are not financially and mentally self-reliant. Apart from this, when uneducated and vulnerable parents continue the tradition of child marriage, this problem continues to the next generation, due to which this chain of poverty and illiteracy does not seem to break.

At the end of the program, women and adolescent girls shared their experiences and expressed their commitment to move forward in the direction of education and self-reliance.