India has a population of 1.3billion people and a life expectancy of 65 years. According to statistics ofthe United Nations and UNICEF, India is the country with the highest rate of sex trafficking in the world.

More than 7 million Indian girls have never been to school. 80% of marriages are arranged, and in rural areas, 56% of all marriage are early marriages. Every year there are about 600 000 selective abortions. There are nearly one million women infected with HIV.

Parents often marry their daughters for economic necessity and to protect them against social exclusion.There are regions in which the family of the girl receives a dowry from the husband's family; however, usually the opposite happens: the family of the bride gives the dowry to the husband's family to meet the economic burden that the girl will represent for her new family. In many parts of India, inter-caste marriage still prevails.