Child marriage is a formal marriage or informal union entered into by an individual before reaching a certain age.

Despite signs of progress, Bangladesh continues to have one of the highest child marriage rates worldwide and the highest rate of marriage involving girls under 15. Fifty-two percent of girls are married by their 18th birthday, and 18% by the age of 15.

Child marriage is more prevalent in rural areas, where 71% of girls are married before the age of 18, compared to 54% in urban areas. More than half of all girls are married before the legal age of 18. Girls who get married are often under pressure to give birth to a child early in the marriage.

Along with deeply embedded cultural and religious beliefs, drivers of child marriage include poverty, parents’ desire to secure economic and social security for their daughters, and the perceived need to protect girls from harm, including sexual harassment. Dowry is also a driving factor, with prices often increasing the older a girl gets. This financial pressure often means that girls from poorer families are more likely to be child brides. Natural disasters also exacerbate child marriage in many regions of Bangladesh. Frequent flooding and river erosion mean many families live with the constant threat of insecurity and increased poverty, which impacts decisions about schooling and marriage for girls. Harassment and intimidation also play a major role in driving child marriage. Unmarried adolescent girls often face unwanted advances and threats, including the threat of abduction from suitors. Parents, feeling unable to protect their daughters and with no prospect of help from the police or local authorities, see marriage as a solution. Families are also influenced by social pressures from neighbors in communities where the onset of puberty in a girl is seen as a signal that it is time for her to marry. The widespread practice of girls’ families paying dowry to her groom creates additional pressure, as dowry tends to be lower and even avoidable for the youngest of brides. Boys are also victims of child marriage in Bangladesh, though it is estimated that the rate of child marriage is 11 times higher for girls than boys.

The legal age of marriage in Bangladesh is currently 18 for women and 21 for men. Bangladesh’s Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA), first passed in 1929 and subsequently amended several times, makes it a criminal offense to marry or facilitate the marriage of a girl under 18 or a man or boy under 21, but the law has rarely been enforced and is widely ignored.

Our Roles / Initiatives for Reducing Child Marriage

1. Make marriage registration compulsory for all religions. Create digital records that are accessible throughout the country as proof of marriage.
2. Initiate a nationwide awareness campaign against child marriage through various media, in formats accessible to those with disabilities and limited literacy. This should emphasize the health risks of early pregnancy, the benefits of girls’ education, the law prohibiting child marriage, the consequences for those who break the law, and the mechanism for reporting child marriage and obtaining assistance.
3. Eliminate all costs to students and parents for textbooks, educational materials, exams, and uniforms for all children in compulsory education, and take steps to alleviate the negative effects of other indirect costs on children from poorer households.
4. Coordinate with schools to monitor harassment of female students and intervene to prevent and end harassment, including contacting law enforcement authorities in cases involving alleged criminal acts.
5. Incorporate a detailed module on sexual and reproductive health into the national curriculum as an examinable, independent subject and ensure that it is taught in all schools.
6. Investigate all complaints of child marriage promptly, intervene to prevent child marriage whenever possible, and refer for prosecution anyone who has committed a crime under the CMRA, including officials who solemnize child marriages and those who provide forged birth certificates to facilitate child marriages. Establish a mechanism to receive and investigate reports of local government officials providing forged birth certificates. Dismiss and refer for prosecution any officials found to have forged birth certificates.

 

Effects of Child Marriage

Early Pregnancy

In Bangladesh and elsewhere, child marriage often leads to early pregnancy, which can have severe health consequences for both mothers and babies, including dramatically elevated rates of mortality. Women in Bangladesh have a 1 in 110 chance of dying in childbirth, making such deaths “unacceptably common,” according to UNICEF. Part of the reason for this is a high birth rate among adolescent girls. Complications resulting from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among adolescent girls aged 15-19 years old in developing countries. Globally, research shows that girls aged 10-14 are five times more likely to die during delivery than mothers aged 20-24; girls aged 15-19 are still twice as likely to die during delivery as women aged 20-24.

Lack of Access to Family Planning

Many girls do not learn about family planning from their mothers or other family members. Even when girls manage to get access to contraceptive supplies, they do not necessarily know how to use them correctly to prevent pregnancy. In addition to a lack of information about family planning and access to contraception, married children also often face pressure from their husbands and in-laws to get pregnant immediately and may fear negative consequences, including abandonment and divorce, if they fail to produce children.

Health Problems

Due to physical immaturity, young girls are more susceptible to obstructed labor, which is a leading cause of maternal mortality globally. Obstructed labor can cause obstetric fistula, a childbirth injury that leaves its victims with urine or fecal incontinence.

The most effective way to ensure that all young people have the information they need about puberty, family planning, and contraception is to include this information in the standard mandatory school curriculum as any other examinable subject, according to UNFPA.