Child marriage in Bangladesh: Socio-legal analysis

Abstract

Child marriage is a strong social custom, particularly for girls in Bangladesh. There are many reasons for child marriage. But most vital reasons among them are poverty, superstition, lack of social security and lack of awareness. According to UNICEF report, "the State of the World"s Children, 2009", "Early marriage is pervasive in Bangladesh, with 64 percent of girls married before age 18. Early pregnancy often results from child marriage; one-third of girls aged 15 to 19 in Bangladesh are currently either mothers or pregnant." Although child marriage is prohibited legally, but occurrences of child marriage are still happening in rural areas of Bangladesh. According to the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 the minimum legal age for marriage is 18 years for females in Bangladesh. Along with this Act child marriage is punishable by law. The right to free and full consent to a marriage is recognized in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and in many subsequent human rights instrumentsconsent that cannot be "free and full" when at least one partner is very immature. Bangladesh also acceded to the UN Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages on 5 October, 1998. These laws, however, have little impact on the frequency of child marriage in Bangladesh. Laws should be enforced to discourage child marriage; however, legal actors alone are insufficient. Social awareness programmes may also be effective in deterring child marriage. To prevent child marriage, a wide range of individuals and organizations need to create awareness among people, particularly the poor. Especially, parents and government can play main role in reducing child marriage. An environment should be ensured where children get proper care and facility to grow up completely and properly. This paper attempts to present the socio-economic and physical consequences of girl child marriage and its legal protection with awareness level of parents in rural Bangladesh.

Investing in activism: Learning from children’s actions to stop child marriage

“…In both countries, child marriage is associated with gender inequality, poverty, lack of access to educational opportunities and patriarchal beliefs that value girls in different ways to boys (UNFPA, 2012). This is underpinned by cultural values, norms and traditional beliefs that marginalise girls by considering them less important than boys and a burden for the families (Nahid, 2014). Thus, child marriage is justified by social norms (Ahonsi et al, 2019), even though in both countries such marriages are illegal 3 .…”

Development of Early Marriage Attitude Scale: A Multi-Dimensional Scale for Measuring the Attitudes Toward Child Marriage

“…This further leads to a lack of opportunity for the girls to receive education and an inability to participate in the labor force. Globally, there are some known health consequences of child marriage such as problems associated with early intercourse and pregnancy including infant and maternal mortality, repeated pregnancies, the risk for HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases as well as depression (Ferdousi, 2014; Mahato, 2016; Nour, 2006; Svanemyr et al, 2015). There are other social and economic consequences such as a denial of childhood, social isolation, the restriction of personal freedom, and the lack of educational opportunity (Ferdousi, 2014; Mahato, 2016).…”

“…Globally, there are some known health consequences of child marriage such as problems associated with early intercourse and pregnancy including infant and maternal mortality, repeated pregnancies, the risk for HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases as well as depression (Ferdousi, 2014; Mahato, 2016; Nour, 2006; Svanemyr et al, 2015). There are other social and economic consequences such as a denial of childhood, social isolation, the restriction of personal freedom, and the lack of educational opportunity (Ferdousi, 2014; Mahato, 2016). It is also notable that child marriage persists through generation by generation; thus, the daughters will likely be facing the same cycle of childhood deprivation as their mothers experienced, who was also married at a young age.…”

Perceptions of Teenage Women About Early Marriage in Bangladesh

“…Adolescent girls in Bangladesh are married soon after reaching puberty and a large number of these young brides are concentrated in the Western and Southern parts of Bangladesh. Although early marriage is not legally prohibited in Bangladesh, they still occur in both the urban and rural areas (Nahid, 2013). According to the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, the minimum legal age for marriage is 18 years for females in Bangladesh.…”