Family socio-cultural values affecting early marriage between Muslim and Santal communities in rural Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose – Family socio-cultural values and its practices have pervasive effects on early age at first marriage in every society. The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare how family socio-cultural values and its practices exert effect on early age at first marriage between Muslim and Santal couples in rural Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach – First of all through snow-ball process and checking of marriage documents the author carefully identified 598 couples from Muslim and 560 from Santal who were married the first time between 1995 and 2005 years and whose age range was 12-48 years for husbands and 10-45 years for wives. Then, 585 pairs of couples (295 for Muslim and 290 for Santal) were randomly selected from the Talonda of Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. Data were collected, applying interview method with semi-structural questionnaire in family setting. Then the collected data were analyzed, using χ2 test and binary logistic regression (BLR) technique. Findings – The frequency distribution showed that most of the Santal couples compared to the Muslim ones were married before the minimum legal age in Bangladesh. The results of χ2 test of the frequency distribution were significant at p<0.01 and p<0.05 level. In addition, results of BLR analysis suggested that early age at first marriage was significantly (p<0.01 and p<0.05) associated with family socio-cultural values studied. It is argued that ethnicity, family pattern, residence pattern, illiteracy and ascriptive occupational status were the risk factors to persist early marriage among the Santal couples than the Muslim ones in rural Bangladesh. Practical implications – Although the findings are suggestive to understand differences in early marriage associated with family socio-cultural values between the ethnic couples, further cross-cultural study should be conducted on how socio-psychological factors affect early marriage between the ethnic groups. In spite of the limitations these findings may have implications in comparative social policy practice to prevent early marriage associated with changes in family socio-cultural values between the ethnic groups in Bangladesh. Originality/value – The findings in the paper are original in linking between family socio-cultural theory, its related policy and practice to prevent early marriage between the ethnic couples in Bangladesh.

Trends of Early Marriage in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review

“…Five studies investigated the association between early marriage and place of residence. This was significantly higher among rural adolescents compared to their urban counterparts (Sanjaya et al, 2018;Shaud & Asad, 2018;Uddin, 2015). One study showed that place of residence was significantly higher matrilocal residential pattern (Yuksel-Kaptanoglu & Ergocmen, 2014).…”

“…Age difference between the spouses is an important indicator of power relations and it is significantly related to being married at an early age. The risk of being a child bride is much higher for women whose husbands are older than themselves by 5-10 years or more (Uddin, 2015).…”

“…Early marriage have been reported and is a trend among adolescent women to varying degrees across many countries, especially in developing countries like Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Viet Nam, India, Bangladesh and countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Goli, Rammohan, & Singh, 2015;Hamed & Yousef, 2018;Hong Le, Tran, Nguyen, & Fisher, 2014;Sanjaya et al, 2018;Shaud & Asad, 2018;Uddin, 2015;UNICEF-UNFPA, 2017;United Nations, 1989;Wells, 2017;Yuksel-Kaptanoglu & Ergocmen, 2014). The age at first marriage varies from one area to another in the world.…”

“…Lower socio-economic attainment, i.e. a lower educational degree and income degree (Sanjaya et al, 2018;Shaud & Asad, 2018;Uddin, 2015;United Nations, 1989;Yuksel-Kaptanoglu & Ergocmen, 2014). Considering the numerous maternal and child health risks associated with early marriage, this issue is worth studying.…”

The Inter-Asia Global Marriage: Interaksi Budaya di dalam Perkawinan Campuran Pasangan India-Indonesia di Jakarta

“…Perkawinan merupakan sebuah institusi sosial yang terbentuk ketika dua orang individu, baik lawan jenis maupun sesama jenis, memutuskan untuk hidup bersama dan membentuk sebuah keluarga untuk berbagi suka dan duka dalam sebuah kehidupan domestik (Girgis 2011). Hubungan perkawinan merupakan pola hubungan universal manusia karena ada di setiap kebudayaan dan subkebudayaan di seluruh dunia (Uddin, 2009). Akan tetapi, di dalam sebuah masyarakat perbedaan sering kali menjadi batasan bagi pasangan untuk dapat menikah.…”