Child marriage legal history and present prevention

Child marriage legal history and present prevention

The history of child marriage under British rule reveals a legal system in which the authority of the family often carried greater weight than the will of the child. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the figure of the child widow exposed a disturbing question: could a girl, already bound by marriage, be considered capable of consenting to sati, the practice of widow immolation? The prohibition of sati in 1829 did not resolve the condition of child widows. As the debates on widow remarriage unfolded, concern for their suffering existed alongside a desire to contain their sexuality within marriage. 

The child wife could become a child widow, only to be placed once again under the discipline of marriage. The case of Helen Gertrude Huchi exposed the distance between a girl’s will and the protection offered by colonial law. Married to her cousin against her wishes while still a minor, Huchi later converted to Christianity and challenged the binding nature of her marriage. Her claim was rejected by the courts and, in 1873, by the Governor General. Colonial authorities treated the father’s power to arrange an infant daughter’s marriage as fundamental to the Hindu family. To weaken that marriage, they argued, would interfere with Hindu religious liberty. Huchi’s refusal carried less legal weight than the institution imposed upon her.. As scholars argue, colonial authorities privileged an orthodox interpretation of Hindu marriage as indissoluble, despite the existence of diverse customs, including divorce and remarriage in some communities. Law gave that interpretation the force of the state. 

The Rukhmabai case, heard between 1885 and 1888, again placed a woman’s capacity to reject a childhood marriage before the courts. Soon afterwards, the Phulmoni case contributed to the controversy surrounding the Age of Consent Act of 1891. Age was becoming a legal boundary, yet the question remained: when would a child’s own will become a matter of law? The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 marked a first legislative attempt to restrain child marriage in British India. Yet the protection it offered had a devastating limit: the minimum age for girls was set at fourteen. A girl who had barely entered adolescence could still be given in marriage within the boundaries of the law. The Act introduced penalties for certain adults involved in child marriages, but it did not automatically invalidate the marriages themselves. The institution remained standing, even when those responsible could be punished.

After independence, the legal boundary moved gradually. In 1949, the minimum age for girls under the 1929 Act was raised from fourteen to fifteen. The Special Marriage Act of 1954 established eighteen for women and twenty-one for men within its framework. In 1978, amendments to the child marriage law raised the general thresholds to eighteen and twenty-one. The law had begun to recognise that childhood could not be surrendered to marriage at fourteen or fifteen; nevertheless, the distance between legislation and implementation remained

A more substantial change came with the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, which replaced the 1929 law and came into force in 2007. It defines a child marriage as one involving a woman under eighteen or a man under twenty-one. The Act provides penalties for an adult man who marries a child, for those who conduct a child marriage, and for those responsible for a child who promote or permit it. It also empowers courts to prevent a marriage before it takes place and requires states to appoint Child 

Marriage Prohibition Officers. Yet criminalisation does not mean that every child marriage is automatically void. Under the central Act, a marriage is generally voidable: the person who was a child at the time must seek its annulment through a court. 

Certain marriages, including those involving specified forms of force, trafficking or sale, are void. The law also allows courts to order maintenance and residence for the female party. This distinction has consequences far beyond legal terminology. A girl may be trapped in a marriage in which she is exposed to rape, sexual and physical violence, coercion, and exploitation. Those who arranged or conducted the marriage may face criminal penalties, while the responsibility of seeking its annulment can still fall upon the person they were supposed to protect. Her childhood is not merely shortened: her body, her safety, and her ability to decide the course of her own life may be placed under someone else’s control.

A law can prohibit child marriage, but protection begins when someone is able to recognise the danger and act. In India, this responsibility is shared between national and state authorities, police, child protection services, courts, and civil society. The Ministry of Women and Child Development coordinates national child protection initiatives, including Mission Vatsalya and the campaign Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat. At the local level, Child Marriage Prohibition Officers are responsible for preventing child marriages, gathering evidence, and raising awareness. When a child is in immediate danger, 112 can connect callers to emergency services. The Child Helpline, 1098, is available around the clock for children in crisis and can be contacted by a child or a concerned adult. It also responds to reports of impending child marriages, coordinating with police and child protection authorities. An anticipated marriage can be reported through the government’s Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat portal, which also provides information about Child Marriage Prohibition Officers. Sexual violence must also be reported. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, provides a framework for addressing sexual assault and other sexual offences against children. A person who knows of, or suspects, an offence under the Act must report it to the local police or the Special Juvenile Police Unit. Online sexual exploitation can be reported through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal; the National Commission for 

Protection of Child Rights also accepts complaints concerning child sexual abuse. Protection must continue after a report is made: Child Welfare Committees and district child protection services can help secure care, while One Stop Centres provide access to medical assistance, psychological support, legal aid, and temporary shelter. Free legal assistance is available through the National Legal Services Authority at 15100. The responsibility to protect a girl cannot end with the interruption of a ceremony: it must extend to her safety, recovery, education, and power to determine her own future.

-Valentina

A Child before a Bride

A Child before a Bride: exploring the problem of dowry in India and South Asia 

The latest available national data on child marriage in India, collected in 2019–2021,  reveal substantial progress, but also expose the limits of national averages. The  proportion of women aged 20–24 who were married before eighteen fell from  approximately 53% in 1996 to 23% in 2021. Yet this reduction has been far from uniform: prevalence remains particularly high in West Bengal, at 42%; Bihar, at 41%; Tripura, at 40%; and Jharkhand, at 32%. Behind the language of improvement, nearly one in four young women nationally had entered marriage before adulthood. Progress deserves recognition, but these figures still describe childhoods cut short and futures negotiated before girls could meaningfully choose them. Understanding these inequalities requires looking beyond explanations that reduce child marriage to religious tradition. UNFPA’s analysis of Bihar, based on the National Family Health 

Survey, reveals striking differences associated with education, wealth, and residence. Child marriage affected approximately 54% of young women from the poorest households, compared with 9% from the wealthiest; prevalence was also higher in rural than urban areas. These associations do not establish a single cause, but demonstrate how profoundly unequal the circumstances surrounding marriage remain. Social traditions and economic insecurity can reinforce each other, particularly where daughters are treated as financial responsibilities whose future belongs to another household. This is where child marriage intersects with dowry: transfers of money, goods, or property from the bride’s family to the groom or his family. The UNFPA–UNICEF review, Child Marriage and Other Harmful Practices, describes how marriage payments can sustain early marriage across South Asia, including India. In some contexts, younger brides require smaller dowries, creating an incentive for families to arrange marriages earlier. The reasoning is brutally transactional: delaying a daughter’s marriage may be perceived as increasing its cost, while marrying her young promises to contain expenditure. The review also connects preferences for younger brides with expectations that they will be easier to control and less likely to challenge the marital household. Economic calculation thus becomes inseparable from the demand for female submission. However, poverty alone cannot explain the practice, which also persists among wealthier families. Gender hierarchies, social prestige, and fears concerning sexuality and family honour can sustain marriage arrangements even where financial necessity is less acute. These realities must be considered against India’s international human rights commitments. India acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992, undertaking obligations concerning children’s protection and development. Marriage during childhood can undermine the rights to education, health, protection from violence, and participation in decisions affecting one’s life. 

India is also a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, although its declarations concerning community customs and marriage registration reveal tensions surrounding implementation. Its declaration on compulsory registration, for example, invoked the practical difficulties posed by the country’s size and diversity. Such positions raise a fundamental question: how can universal rights be secured when their implementation must confront practices defended through community authority? The Sustainable Development Goals provide another benchmark. Target 5.3 calls for the elimination of child, early, and forced marriage by 2030; unlike treaty obligations, this is a global political and development commitment. Achieving it requires interventions that address the conditions making early marriage appear desirable or unavoidable. Accessible secondary education, meaningful employment opportunities, social protection, and support services must accompany efforts to challenge dowry demands and restrictive gender norms. 

Programme design also matters: the UNFPA–UNICEF review documents cases in which financial incentives intended to delay marriage were absorbed into dowry or wedding expenses. Such findings expose the limits of interventions that leave underlying power relations intact. Success cannot mean merely moving a wedding beyond a girl’s eighteenth birthday. It must mean expanding her power to decide whether, when, and whom to marry. Until her future ceases to be treated as a family transaction, declining statistics will tell only part of the story.

Recognising the girl child as a subject of rights demands more than international commitments: it requires examining how India’s domestic laws have evolved, whose interests they have protected, and whether they have secured her recognition as a person before treating her as a wife.

-Valentina Savino 

• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (n.d.). India country profile. Child 

Marriage Data Portal. 

• United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). (2022). Child marriage in Bihar: Key 

insights from the NFHS-5 (2019–21). Analytical Paper Series #1A. 

• United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) & United Nations Children’s Fund 

(UNICEF). (2020). Child marriage and other harmful practices: A desk review of 

evidence from South Asia. UNFPA. 

• United Nations. (1979). Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of 

Discrimination against Women. United Nations Treaty Collection. 

• United Nations. Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and 

girls.

United Nations Day: The Double Driving Force of Change.

 

United Nations Day: The Double Driving Force of Change.

 24 October, we celebrate United Nations Day. This date marks the entry into force of the UN Charter in 1945. From the ashes of the Second World War, global leaders founded this organisation to guarantee peace, dialogue, and international cooperation. Currently, the UN action plans are guided by the 2030 Agenda. This historic universal programme was adopted by world leaders in September 2015. It was created to complete the work of the previous Millennium Development Goals, tackling the global challenges left unresolved. The 2030 Agenda is not something to be confined only to the top echelons of the UN, but it calls upon every single citizen of the world to commit. Indeed, true change requires a double driving force. It needs commitment from the top, through institutions and international treaties. But above all, it requires a strong push from the bottom, built through the practical,daily efforts of civil society.

Let us go into the details of the 2030 Agenda. Conceptually, its spirit is summarised by a clear principle: "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (Brundtland Report, 1987). Concretely, this programme divides global challenges into precise categories, encompassing all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Goals 1 to 4, along with Goal 6, relate to primary human needs. They aim to eradicate poverty and hunger, guaranteeing health, quality education, and universal access to clean water and sanitation. Goals 5, 10, and 16 focus on social justice. They promote gender equality, reduce inequalities, and build peaceful institutions. The group of Goals from 7 to 12, joined by 17, tackles economic development and cooperation. It demands clean energy, decent work, innovation, sustainable cities, responsible consumption, and global partnerships. Finally, Goals 13 to 15 protect the planet, imposing urgent climate action and the safeguarding of marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

Let us take a specific case: India, where the WASH sector faces enormous challenges. Almost half of the schools lack vital resources such as safe drinking water, separate toilets, and functioning sinks. This shortage threatens students' health, as drinking contaminated water and not washing hands encourage the spread of diseases and infections. Furthermore, these bad hygienic conditions discourage the continuation of their studies, leading many youths to drop out of school early.

This is exactly where the bottom-up push comes into play. Many Indian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are working hard to resolve this emergency by operating in two ways. First, they educate young people on correct hygiene procedures (such as using soap and managing personal cleanliness). Second, they raise funds to install fundamental infrastructure, like water filters and safe sanitation facilities. Thanks to the help of teachers, volunteers, and donors, NGOs transform the school environment, providing the missing physical structures and guiding children towards healthy new habits. At this point,the virtuous cycle is triggered: the students return home and teach their parents what they have learned, spreading change throughout society.

As the case of the WASH sector in India demonstrates, the 2030 Agenda requires a perfect synergy between two forces. The top echelons of the UN determine the guidelines and conceptual rules to follow. However, on a practical level, a bottom-up push—led by NGOs, educators, and all the figures revolving around them—is equally essential. These two dimensions are interdependent: top-down directives without bottom-up action remain empty, while grassroots work without global goals is disorganised. Both are vital. This collective effort involves every one of us. As a citizen, you can actively participate in this grassroots movement in two ways. The first is physical: you can apply as a volunteer and work on the ground with one of these organisations. The second is financial: you can support these projects with a donation. Even a small contribution concretely helps to build a better world.

-Piero Rigoni

 

Fundraising Link : Please Support and Share!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-children-in-slums-and-rural-areas-build-their-future?utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_content=amp30-treatment-3&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&lang=it_IT*

Know Yourself: A Practical Guide to Emotional Intelligence

Know Yourself: A Practical Guide to Emotional Intelligence

We live in a culture that loves labels. From an early age, we are taught to divide our experiences into neat little drawers. Happiness, fun, and calm are "good" emotions, while anger, sadness, and anxiety are labeled as "negative". Society tells us to smile more, always dry our tears, and keep our impulses under control. Are we sure, however, that this is the correct approach? Let's think about how excessive cheerfulness or forced optimism can prove counterproductive, for example when facing a critical work situation or a bereavement, preventing us from lucidly assessing real risks and dangers. Conversely,sadness can be extremely effective in certain circumstances: allowing ourselves to cry and welcoming pain slows down our pace, stimulates the empathy of those around us, and offers us the necessary space to process a loss and reflect deeply. Similarly, anger is not always a flaw to be suppressed; in many instances, it becomes a precious and effective resource for defending one's personal boundaries, protecting the vulnerable, or standing up against injustice. These cases show us how there are no absolute positive or negative emotions, but the value of an emotion depends on the context. It is therefore necessary to know how to listen to one's emotions and how to use the most suitable one. We could call this ability emotional intelligence.

The fundamental starting point for developing this emotional intelligence is a deep knowledge of oneself. We often live on autopilot, passively enduring external events and reacting on instinct to every minor provocation. Becoming aware of our inner world means instead developing what psychology defines as self-awareness, which is the ability to tune into one's moods in real time. Knowing oneself thoroughly does not mean seeking rigid control or unattainable perfection, but learning to observe one's thoughts and reactions without judgment. When we recognize what is happening inside us, we stop being at the mercy of circumstances and create a precious breathing space between what happens and how we choose to respond, turning every emotion into an ally rather than an enemy.

To navigate this vast inner territory with precision and give a name to what we feel, an extraordinary visual tool comes to our aid: the Mood Meter. This is a diagram structured as a grid divided into four colored quadrants, organized around two fundamental axes. On the vertical axis, we find energy levels, ranging from low to high, while the horizontal axis features the degree of pleasantness, from unpleasant to pleasant. This map allows us to place every mood in its specific space: the top left features high-energy yet unpleasant emotions such as anger or stress, while the bottom right holds low-energy and pleasant feelings such as serenity and tranquility. To choose which state to activate, we use precise criteria based on the quadrants: we turn to a high-energy emotion when we need to act quickly, face a dynamic challenge, or forcefully defend our boundaries; we opt for a low-energy emotion instead when we need to slow down, recover our strength, or reflect calmly in a moment of quiet; we favor a high-pleasantness emotion when the goal is to foster cooperation, social harmony, and relational well-being; finally, we use a low-pleasantness emotion (such as healthy determination or measured annoyance) when we need to signal that something is wrong, set limits, or address an injustice with resolve. The Mood Meter thus offers us an immediate visual compass to map our state, helping us consciously choose the wisest and most ecological attitude for the context.

These capacities for self-awareness and contextual analysis are not innate and immutable gifts, but actual skills that must be trained throughout the course of life. It is beneficial to begin training an individual in

these qualities from a young age, so as to make them emotionally intelligent right from the start. In reality,it is never too late to do so: even in adulthood, embarking on this path of growth allows us to develop greater inner flexibility and radically improve our relationships. After all, the key to well-being does not lie in suppressing what we feel, but in thoroughly understanding its nature. Emotions are not obstacles to fight or hide under the rug, but precious compasses to listen to: let us learn to know them, because only what we understand stops frightening us and becomes our strength.

-Piero Rigoni

Bibliography

CASEL. "Fundamentals of SEL." Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. Accessed

October 17, 2026. https://casel.org.

Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books, 1995. Specifically Chapter 4,

"Know Thyself."

Gottman, John, and Joan DeClaire. Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child: The Heart of Parenting.

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. Specifically Chapter 2, "The Five Key Steps for Emotion Coaching,"

and Chapter 3, "Emotion-Coaching Strategies.

International Day of Rural Women

Rural Women, Water and Hygiene: From Daily Responsibilities to Leadership

Every year on 15 October, the International Day of Rural Women recognises the contribution women make to agriculture, food security and rural development.

Established by the United Nations, the day is also an opportunity to examine the inequalities that shape their lives and to support their participation in decisions affecting their communities. Across rural areas, women cultivate crops, prepare food and sustain households and local economies. Their work connects agricultural production with the daily wellbeing of families. Yet their contribution does not always translate into equal income, opportunities or influence. UN Women highlighted this imbalance in its 2021 statement: women help feed the world while unequal power relations continue to undermine their own food security. Recognising rural women therefore requires more than celebrating their commitment. It means addressing the conditions under which they work, including the responsibilities that absorb their time without bringing financial compensation or public recognition. Water illustrates this challenge clearly. In many rural settings, securing water for household needs is a responsibility assigned to women. An article published by India Water Portal describes women in rural India travelling long distances to collect water and maintaining household cleanliness with limited resources. Behind these journeys lies the work needed to keep a household functioning. Water supports drinking, cooking, cleaning and personal hygiene. When supplies are distant, obtaining it becomes a task around which other activities must be organised. These implications can extend beyond household routines because the time spent collecting water can restrict opportunities for paid employment and community participation. UN material on rural women highlights how investment in water supplies and other essential services can reduce unpaid work and help women access productive employment.

Accessible water is therefore also a matter of opportunity. Bringing reliable services closer to homes can create space for women to pursue their own priorities. Alongside these challenges there has been an evolution and revolution of roles given to women. India Water Portal describes a shift within the WASH sector. Women are increasingly organising collectively, sharing experience and advocating for more inclusive services and programmes. Women's self-help groups and community organisations provide spaces where individual concerns can become shared priorities. Through collective action, women can contribute to discussions about the services their communities need and strengthen their influence over decisions.This transition builds on knowledge developed through daily experience: understanding household water needs and practical barriers to hygiene can inform the design of services.Connecting rural women with Global Handwashing Day

The same date, 15 October, marks Global Handwashing Day. This annual awareness day promotes handwashing with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent disease. Its coincidence with the International Day of Rural Women offers a useful opportunity to connect hygiene with access to services and women's participation. Handwashing depends on practical conditions. People need accessible facilities, water and soap, supported by education that responds to their circumstances. The Global Handwashing Partnership emphasises reliable supplies and adequate handwashing stations alongside programmes that encourage lasting changes in behaviour. While obtaining water requires effort, promoting hygiene must include attention to that effort. Advice becomes more useful when communities have the resources to put it into practice. Women's experience can help identify these practical needs. Their participation can bring household concerns into wider discussions about infrastructure, education and public priorities. Bringing these two observances together invites a broader understanding of rural wellbeing. Water access, everyday hygiene and equal participation belong within the same conversation. The response should combine investment in essential services with support for women's voices and a fairer distribution of unpaid work. Community health depends on conditions that make healthy practices possible for everyone.

On 15 October, recognising rural women means valuing their contribution while supporting their right to influence the future. With accessible water, adequate hygiene facilities and meaningful opportunities to lead, communities can create conditions that support both collective wellbeing and women's aspirations, making recognition a foundation for change. 

United Nations — International Day of Rural Women.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/rural-women-day

UN Women — Statement by UN Women on the International Day of Rural Women (2021).

https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2021/10/statement-un-women-international-day-o

f-rural-women

India Water Portal — Water, sanitation, and women: A journey of empowerment in rural

India (20 March 2024).

https://www.indiawaterportal.org/health-and-sanitation/sanitation/water-sanitation-and-wome

n-journey-empowerment-rural-india

Global Handwashing Partnership — Global Handwashing Day.

https://globalhandwashing.org/global-handwashing-day

Global Handwashing Day: Be a Handwashing Hero!

Global Handwashing Day: Be a Handwashing Hero! By Valentina 

Our hands play a part in almost every activity throughout the day: preparing food, touching shared objects and coming into contact with other people. These everyday interactions can make them carriers of microorganisms, which may then be transferred to food or to our eyes, nose and mouth. Washing with soap and water helps interrupt these routes of transmission and prevent intestinal and respiratory infections. Prevention therefore begins with ordinary actions, often performed without thinking, at home, at school and at work.A simple daily routine can help break the chain of infection: turning on the tap, applying soap, rubbing our hands together and rinsing. On 15 October, Global Handwashing Day highlights the importance of handwashing and its contribution to public health. It offers an opportunity to reconsider our habits while remembering that the ability to wash our hands depends on material conditions that remain deeply unequal around the world.

The benefits are well documented. When presenting the new guidelines on hand hygiene in community settings, published jointly with UNICEF on 15 October 2025, the World Health Organization highlighted reductions of 30% in diarrhoeal disease and 17% in acute respiratory infections. These findings demonstrate the potential of prevention at the population level: making handwashing a regular habit can help reduce a substantial burden of illness.For many people, however, the practical means to do so are still missing.

According to the figures cited by WHO, approximately 1.7 billion people lacked basic hand hygiene services at home in 2024, including 611 million who had no handwashing facility at all. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme defines a basic hygiene service as access to a handwashing facility with both water and soap available at home. A sink alone is therefore not enough. Measuring these conditions helps reveal inequalities and guide action.

The joint WHO/UNICEF programme also monitors water, sanitation and hygiene in schools and healthcare facilities. In these settings, reliable services affect the quality of care and the conditions in which children learn. Talking about clean hands therefore also means considering how shared spaces are organised and whether essential services remain consistently available.

For children, handwashing connects health with everyday opportunities to learn, play and grow. Preventing infections can help reduce school absences and support wellbeing. Yet children need more than instructions: they need accessible facilities, a reliable supply of water and soap, and adults who help them practise the habit. Parents and teachers can make handwashing part of familiar routines, particularly before eating and after using the toilet. Demonstrations, reminders and playful activities can make these moments easier to remember and repeat.This is where “Be a Handwashing Hero”, the multi-year theme of

Global Handwashing Day, offers an engaging message. Everyone, including young children, can champion clean hands in their community. For children, the idea of becoming a hero can turn an everyday routine into a small act of care for themselves and others. Adults can use that message to introduce the five essential steps recommended by the US Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention:

1. Wet: wet your hands with clean, running water, turn off the tap and apply soap.

2. Lather: rub your hands together, covering the backs, between the fingers and under the nails 

3. Scrub: scrub for at least 20 seconds. Singing “Happy Birthday” twice can help

children keep track of the time.

4. Rinse: rinse your hands thoroughly under clean, running water.

5. Dry: dry them using a clean towel or an air dryer.

These five steps give children a practical way to take part. A handwashing hero can

remember the routine, encourage a friend and show a younger sibling how to do it. Their

efforts deserve support from adults and institutions that keep facilities accessible and

supplied. This Global Handwashing Day, the invitation is simple: help children build a healthy

habit and give them the conditions to practise it every day.

[1] World Health Organization (WHO). Water supply, sanitation and hygiene monitoring.

https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/water-sanitation-and-hea

lth/monitoring-and-evidence/wash-monitoring

[2] World Health Organization (WHO). New guidelines on community hand hygiene to help

governments reduce the spread of infectious diseases. 15 October 2025.

https://www.who.int/news/item/15-10-2025-new-guidelines-on-community-hand-hygiene-to-h

elp-governments-reduce-the-spread-of-infectious-diseases

[3] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About Handwashing. 16 February

2024.

https://www.cdc.gov/clean-hands/about/

[4] Global Handwashing Partnership. Global Handwashing Day Fact Sheet. 5 September

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

 

Theme: Every story is unique, every journey matters

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a global opportunity to raise awareness of breast cancer and call for action to improve access to timely diagnosis and quality care.

The theme “Every story is unique, every journey matters” recognizes that every experience of breast cancer is different. Behind every diagnosis is a person, a family and a unique journey. People may face different challenges depending on their diagnosis, treatment, support networks and access to care.

Every person affected by breast cancer deserves to be, supported and treated with dignity. And everyone, wherever they live, should have access to the care they need.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women.

In 2024:

• 2.4 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide.
• 694 000 women died from the disease.
• 8.2 million women were living with breast cancer at the end of the year.

Breast cancer occurs in every country and can affect women at any age after puberty, with incidence increasing later in life. Around 80% of breast cancers occur in women with no specific risk factors other than sex and age.

While breast cancer outcomes have improved in many countries, major inequalities remain. Access to early diagnosis and effective treatment can vary significantly, contributing to large differences in survival between countries.

Key messages

1. Breast cancer remains a major global health challenge.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women globally. In 2024, an estimated 2.4 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 694 000 women died from the disease. Breast cancer was the most common cancer in women in 164 of 186 countries in 2024. It occurs in every country and can affect women at any age after puberty, with rates increasing later in life.

We must act to detect breast cancer earlier, provide timely diagnosis and ensure access to quality treatment and care.

2. Know your risk. 

Certain factors increase the risk of breast cancer, including increasing age, obesity, alcohol use, family history of breast cancer, history of radiation exposure, reproductive history and tobacco use. However, approximately 80% of breast cancers develop in women who have no modifiable breast cancer risk factor other than being female and increasing age. Most women diagnosed with breast cancer do not have a known family history of the disease.

Knowing your risk can help you make informed choices and seek care when needed.

3. Know the signs. 

For women of all ages, it is important to be aware of changes in the breasts and to seek medical advice if something seems unusual. Signs can include a breast lump or thickening, changes in the size or shape of the breast, changes in the skin or nipple, or abnormal or bloody fluid from the nipple. For women in age groups where mammography screening is recommended, a mammogram may be recommended in health care settings with adequate screening services. 

Knowing the signs, being breast health aware and seeking care promptly can help support timely diagnosis and treatment.

4. We can save lives. Countries must act.

All countries should aim to reduce breast cancer mortality by 2.5% per year, putting the world on track to avert 2.5 million breast cancer deaths by 2040. This is feasible by providing breast cancer services as part of the essential benefit package for universal health coverage and making them available in public facilities.

With the right policies, services and investment, countries can reduce breast cancer deaths and improve survival.

5. Where you live shouldn’t determine whether you survive.

Major inequalities in breast cancer survival persist around the world. 41% of women in low-income countries are expected to survive at least five years after a breast cancer diagnosis, compared with 87% in high-income countries. Around 70% of breast cancer deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, where access to early detection, timely diagnosis and comprehensive treatment remains more limited.

Everyone, everywhere should have an equal chance to survive breast cancer.

6. Keep talking. Keep supporting. Keep acting.

Advocate, contribute and act to empower and support people affected by breast cancer.

Every story is unique. Every journey matters. No one should face breast cancer alone.

Closing the gaps in breast cancer care

The WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI) brings countries and partners together to reduce inequalities in breast cancer outcomes and save lives.

The initiative aims to achieve three targets:

• 60% of invasive breast cancers are diagnosed at stage I or II
• 60 days from the first detection or presentation of symptoms at health facility to getting a diagnosis
• 80% of people diagnosed with breast cancer receive the recommended complete treatment

Achieving these targets requires action across the cancer care pathway - from health promotion and early detection to timely diagnosis, comprehensive treatment and supportive care.

This October, every action matters

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity to turn awareness into action.

Raise awareness: Share accurate information about breast cancer and the importance of seeking care promptly when symptoms occur.

Listen and support : Recognize that every person’s experience of breast cancer is different, and ensure that people affected by the disease are supported throughout their journey.

Improve access: Work to remove barriers to early diagnosis and quality treatment, particularly for people living in settings where access to care is limited.

Drive action: Support countries and communities in implementing the WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative and closing gaps in breast cancer outcomes.

Calls to Action

Everyone has a role to play in making breast cancer care more accessible and equitable.

• Individuals and communities can share trusted information and help raise awareness.
• Health professionals can support early detection, timely diagnosis and high-quality care.
• Organizations and partners can amplify campaign messages and support local and national action.
• Countries and health systems can strengthen breast cancer services and work towards the GBCI targets.

Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2026/10/01/default-calendar/breast-cancer-awareness-month-2026