‘Child marriage reached unaceptable levels during the pandemic’

Although the government is committed to stopping  child marriage, during the Covid-19 period, when so many of the  support systems were  not working, number of child marriages increased at unacceptable levels, said Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) Executive Director Shaheen Anam, after findings of a study was revealed yesterday.

A quick assessment report of Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) yesterday revealed that at least 13,886 girls from 84 upazilas of 21 districts were forced into child marriages from April to October last year, 48 percent of whom were aged between 13 and 15 years.

The findings of the report titled "Rapid Analysis of Child Marriage  Situation during Covid-19" was shared at an MJF-organised webinar presided over by Shaheen Anam. MJF conducted the report in association with UNFPA, Unicef and Plan International Bangladesh.

Citing last year's Unicef report, Plan International Bangladesh Country Director Orla Murphy said, "Bangladesh is home to 38 million child brides, including currently married girls  along with women who were first married in childhood. Of these, 13 million married before age 15. Nearly five in 10 child brides gave birth before age 18, and eight in 10 gave birth before age 20. Married girls are over four times more likely to be out of school than unmarried girls."

Meeting SDG targets by 2030 and the national target by 2041 is going to be a real challenge for us as a country, she added.

UNFPA Deputy Representative Eiko Narita said for girls who are married off, the pregnancy rate is higher than that of women who got married later. This can lead to adverse health consequences.

Veera  Mendonca, Unicef representative of Bangladesh, said poverty has  increased substantially in the pandemic, and it is a key driver for child  marriage. She urged the government and other organisations to work  together to make an impact in stopping child marriages.

Women  and Children Affairs Ministry Joint Secretary Md Mohibuzzaman said UNOs  are major stakeholders for stopping child marriage.

"But,  child marriage is a social issue, because people who live in marginal  areas consider marrying off their child as one less burden," he said.

The mix method survey was conducted by interviewing  21,258 respondents,  including married and unmarried girls aged between 10 and 19 years,  parents having at least one daughter aged 10-19 years, local government  representatives, UNOs, Department of Women Affairs officials, marriage  registrars, local leaders, school/college teachers and police officers.

The highest number of child marriages took place in Barguna, with 1,512 girls  forced into marriage, while the number is 1,272 in Kurigram, 1,222 in Nilphamari, 1,041 in Laxmipur and 884 in Kushtia, it mentioned. 

A total of 5,089 respondents also mentioned that there were unexpected pregnancies during Covid-19, due to  demands of husbands and in-laws, husbands staying home for longer periods, disruption in family planning services, and much more, it found.

The respondents also mentioned witnessing 1.7 incidents of child marriage per day.

Barguna had the highest percentage of respondents (88 percent) who reported at least one child marriage during the Covid-19 period, followed by Laxmipur (63 percent), Khulna (56 percent) and Nilphamari (56 percent).

MJF's violence against women and girls coordinator Arpita Das and senior manager Shaikh Giasuddin Ahmed presented the information at the event.

The webinar came up with some policy recommendations, including monetary support to families with children in case of large scale emergencies such as Covid-19, and a national campaign highlighting negative impacts of child marriage and debunking the perceived positive theories.