Reversing trend on child marriage

THE recently concluded Bangladesh Girl Summit jointly organized by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, BRAC and DFID hoped to provide a platform where children and adolescent activists can play a proactive role in the prevention of  child marriages. The summit, the first of its kind to be organized in the country brought together diverse viewpoints on how best to combat the age-old  practice of parents marrying off their children before they finish secondary schooling.

What has been brought to light is that the average girl who is able to study beyond S.S.C. has a higher possibility of remaining unmarried than the girl child who succumbs to peer pressure for early marriage. Education remains the single most important bulwark against child marriage. Whilst societal beliefs in rural areas may still favour child marriage as a safeguard against perceived harm befalling girl children, what parents fail to gauge is the harm it does to the natural growth of the child, both physical and psychological. And their situation is only exacerbated by the onset of pregnancy at an early age.

In an effort to combat the harmful practice of child and forced marriage, the government has partnered with BRAC and DFID to change set notions of girls being liabilities, rather than assets to the nation. No form of intervention is as effective as primary education for girls which has been a focus for both state and non-state actor interventions in Bangladesh.