Early marriage root cause of violence against women
Speakers tell discussion
Early marriage is the root cause of many forms of suffering and discrimination against women in Bangladesh, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.
Quoting a Unicef's report, they said about 64 percent women are forced into early marriage in Bangladesh before they are 18. Majority of them give birth in between the age of 15 to 19.
Early marriage leads to dowry related violence while early pregnancy to many health complications and malnutrition. Maternal death among the girls below 18 is higher than the older age group, they mentioned.
It also hinders education of the girl child along with personal development and mental growth, they said.
Bangladesh Shishu Academy and National Girl Child Advocacy Forum jointly organised the discussion at Shishu Academy auditorium in the city.
"The main purpose of the day is to remind us of certain responsibilities to girl children," said Sultana Kamal, former advisor to the last caretaker government and executive director of Ain O Salish Kendra.
She added, "These days discrimination against girls starts even before birth. If the ultra-sonogram report says the coming child is a girl, families often stop taking care of the mother."
Every girl must know that she has the right to deserve equal opportunity but boys should know it too, she said.
Bangladesh has been celebrating National Girl Child Day since 2000. It is a national strategy to raise awareness about ending discrimination against girls and improving the status of their lives.
"It is still the reality that birth of a girl child does not bring joy to families in our country", said Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, state minister for women and children affairs.
"The discrimination starts at home and continues in different forms in all spheres of life", she added.
She said the current government is keen on changing the situation. Education of girls has been given the highest priority as a possible strategy to tackle the issue.
Badiul Alam Majumder, chairman of National Girl Child Advocacy Forum and country director of The Hunger Project stressed creating equal opportunity for girls to enhance their development.
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