WITH 30 percent girls being married at 15 or below, Bangladesh has the highest rate of child marriages outside sub-Saharan African nations making the life of girls terrible with high maternity risks without basic education. Instead of going to secondary schools and up to the colleges, they go to bridegrooms’ home. It ends the potentials of their life other than to work in family households and become mother to many children.
News report in a national daily on Monday highlighted the issue based on the findings of a study by international humanitarian organization CARE which analyzed the child marriage situation in 26 countries. The awful condition is mainly noticeable in African continent but Bangladesh exceptionally is one in the Asiatic region taking the 20th position on the list. Niger topped the list, in which 76 percent girls get married before 18 while only 10 percent go to secondary schools. CARE released the report on the International Day of the Girl Child observed worldwide on Sunday.
Highlighting the situation in the countries where ‘Child Marriage Eclipses Girls’ Education’ the report unveiled a sorry state of early marriage in Bangladesh where 65 percent of girls get married before 18 as against 51 percent enrolled in secondary schools. Poverty, under-rating of girls’ values and security concerns for growing girls in poor law and order situation have been blamed for early child marriage in our country. Many poor families also get their minor daughters married to limit the number of mouths to feed. But keeping safe from sexual assault and other degradation that girls face while attending schools is increasingly influencing the outlook and decision of rural parents for early marriage of their daughters.
This is indeed an eye opening disclosure. Only few months back two girl students were raped and then killed by hoodlums at a Faridpur village as they were returning home from tutorial classes. Such stories often flash out in our media outlets and it is causing drastic fall of girl students at secondary school level. Parents of girls of the poor families are marrying off their daughters in early age to protect them from unknown disgrace.
The government is boosting claims of development in all fronts including high level of success in girls’ education by posting billboards at city crossings. But the study report highlighted the critical reality in the ground where most of our girl students are abandoning going to secondary schools for safety concerns.
It is a shame that Bangladesh has been rated with many African and Sub-Saharan countries in case of early marriage and girls’ education. We should stop lying about big development and take the disclosure as a reminder that a lot more needs to be done to give safety to our girls students to avoid early marriage. They must have proper security and social environment for higher education instead of falling prey to early marriage.
