When the entire country is reeling from an endemic of early marriage, rights activists on Wednesday stressed the need for launching massive awareness campaign across the country to stop the social menace.
While talking to BSS, Project Director of Initiative For Married Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment (IMAGE) Farhana Jesmine Hasan said a week-long campaign for early married girls with the slogan “I do exist” was launched on March 5 aiming to remove the ordeal of early married girls in the country.
As child marriage is an epidemic in Bangladesh, it must increase efforts along with launching massive awareness campaign to combat the social problem, she added.
On the occasion of the International Women’s day, with the joint initiatives of five partners of IMAGE, it launched the week-long campaign focusing on empowerment of married girls, Farhana said.
The five partner organizations are — Terra Des Homes Netherlands, RedOrange Media and Communication, SKS, PolliSree and Terra Des Hommes Lausanne.
As part of the weeklong programme, a 12-team of IMAGE and other partner
organizations joined a rally of Sammilita Samajik Protirodh, a network of 72
organizations on Tuesday aiming to raise voices to uphold rights of women in
every spheres of society. Training and Capacity Building Specialist Nazneen
Begum Pappu said, “We have joined the rally of Sammilita Samajik Protirodh,
to express solidarity with its programmes taken on the occasion of the
International Women’s Day.”
She said the rally was brought out with different slogans – “Ensuring
recognition of women’s success and achievements in society.” The state must
take necessary initiatives to establish women’s rights in every spheres of
the society, she added.
According to a report of UNICEF, the rates are still high as 66 percent of
girls are married before the age of 18 and over one third of girls are
married before the age of 15.
About child marriage, health experts said it causes various health
complications among the pregnant mothers, which lead to preterm birth with
low weights. They said child marriage is also responsible for poor health
condition of both mothers and their babies.
