Quote:A recent United Nations report has revealed that over 200 million women in India were married during their childhood. The global estimate stands at 640 million girls and women who were married before turning 18, with one-third of these cases occurring in India alone.

As per the the Sustainable Development Goals report 2024, one in five girls is married before age 18, compared to one in four 25 years ago. This improvement has prevented approximately 68 million child marriages over the past quarter-century.

Despite these advancements, the UN warns that the world continues to fall short on gender equality. Issues such as violence against women and the lack of autonomy for many women regarding their sexual and reproductive health persist. At the current pace, achieving parity in management positions between men and women will take 176 years.