Child marriage is so common a perception in our country that most of the people, the villagers in particular, do not even consider this as a problem at all, let alone consider it as an offense. This deliberate ignorance of the problem has inspired and instigated many other parents to follow the same tradition by marrying off their children at an early age.

I had a friend named ‘Lucky Akter’ in my primary school years who was a very good student. In fact, two students from our school were selected for government stipend and she was one of them along with me. It is mentionable that it was not at all easy to achieve the scholarship as only two students (a boy and a girl) from the whole union were used to be selected during our time. Not to mention, Lucky was the only girl from the entire union to be selected for the scholarship facility for the next three years. I could not continue my study further with that girl as I got the opportunity to enroll myself into one of the cadet colleges. Only two years later, I met that girl once again only to discover that she was married to a man, who was much older than her, and had stopped going to the high school.

When I asked her about all these, she could not hold her tears. She was standing right in front of me with tears rolling down her eyes. She went on to say, “My father forced me to marry that man who was not even more educated than me. My father did not want to let go the opportunity as the groom’s family agreed to accept me as their daughter-in-law without any kind of dowry considering the fact that I was an intelligent student. Ironically, they refused to continue my study further as soon as I was taken to my in-laws’ home.”

To add to her sufferings, she was divorced by her husband just a few years after her marriage without even providing any kind of alimony or consolation money. Now she is living a lonely life and struggling to earn her bread and butter. Her father, who once married off her daughter without even bothering to ask for her consent, now puts the blame on fate.

There are many more such stories of child marriage. In fact, it is not possible to finish all those stories. The girls who are being forced to marry at a very early age have to go through and endure endless sufferings; their sufferings are boundless.

Child marriage, the trend that has proved to be an epidemic in our social perspective, can lead to several kinds of harmful consequences such as health risks associated with early pregnancy, lower educational achievement for girls and a higher rate of conjugal or domestic violence. Research shows that globally girls aged 10-14 are five times more likely to die during delivery than mothers aged 20-24; girls aged 15-19 are still twice as likely to die during delivery than women aged 20-24. Again according to a study carried out across 7 countries, girls who married before the age of 15 were more likely to experience spousal abuse than women who married after the age of 25.

In Bangladesh, there are several factors which are directly contributing to the high rate of child marriage. To be very honest, girls are not valued as much as boys in our social perspective. They are seen as a burden. But it is possible to bring about some changes in this regard by changing parents’ attitudes and emphasizing on the point that girls who avoid early marriage and stay in school will likely be able to make a greater contribution to their family and their community in the long run.

Another major reason is poverty. Where poverty is acute, giving a daughter in marriage allows parents to reduce family expenses by ensuring they have one less person to feed and educate. Meanwhile dowry is another strong reason. In our society, the groom’s family often agrees to marry off their son to a girl child with a hope to getting a good amount of money. On the other hand, the bride’s family considers the fact that they have to pay less money if the bride is young and uneducated.

Common people can play a vital role to bring an end to this problem. Educated young people can take some initiatives in their respective areas to discourage the parents to marry off their daughters at a young age.