Not for Children

Fifteen-year-old Kulsum works as a maid at a house in the capital’s Dhanmondi area. One day, her father calls her employers and  informs them that he would be taking her back home at the weekend, as her marriage is being fixed. When asked about her predicament, Kulsum hides her face with her scarf and walks away. She was not given any choice when she was dropped off one day two years ago in an unknown residence in Dhaka to work as a household help, and neither does she have any say in her father’s decision to marry her off at 15.

Like Kulsum, Naseema, who also lives in Dhanmondi,  had her marriage arranged by her businessman father when she was 16 and had just taken her ‘O’ Level exams. She wanted to study medicine, and the husband’s family agreed to let her continue with her studies. However, within the first year of marriage she had a baby, and now five years on, she is a stay-at-home mum of two toddlers. She had aced her ‘O’ levels and someday, hopes to finish her ‘A’ levels through distance learning.
Such scenarios are eerily prevalent in Bangladesh,  placing it among countries with the  highest rates of child marriage. 
Even though our law sets 18 as the legal age for girls to marry, and 21 for men, according to reports by rights groups and nonprofit organisations working to prevent child marriages, almost 29 percent of girls in Bangladesh are married off before the age of 15, while 65 percent are married before the 18. 
Many boys are married as children, too, but there is barely any research on the effects of marriage on underage boys when they are perhaps not ready, psychologically or financially, to take care of a wife and children. According to UNICEF, “girls are disproportionately the most affected….Child marriage has lasting consequences on girls, from their health, education and social development perspectives.” 
Many factors contribute to driving parents to marry off their daughters early and these include social pressure, community mindset, fear of sexual harassment, poverty, natural disasters, gender inequality and lack of access to education or job opportunities. Then there is the illegal practice of dowry _ parents can pay less for marrying off their young daughter, who is then considered as a free worker, albeit underage, by her in-laws.
Health is a major factor that affects the lives of underage brides. Since reproductive health issues are little discussed at home or school, girls are not aware of contraceptive options or the health risks of having children early. Research shows that girls who bear children at age 10 to 14 are more likely to face dire health consequences, even death, than women who give birth at 20 to 24. It also reveals that girls aged between 15 to 19 are still vulnerable to child birth. 
Most girls who marry early never return to school, thus, limiting their ability to develop intellectually and socially,  and make healthy life decisions. Research linking disruption in education and child marriage reveals that girls who go on to secondary and higher education are less likely to marry at a young age. 
About the government’s role in trying to reduce the harrowing rate of child marriage in Bangladesh, Tania Zaman, head of Child Rights and Protection at Plan International in Dhaka, told the Weekend Independent:
“Child marriage is a huge issue globally, and for us it is surely is. It is recognised by the government as a major issue as well. The prevalence rate will hopefully come down as we see the government committed towards making a difference, along with the NGOs and development partners as everybody has acknowledged this as an issue to be addressed.”
“The prime minister has set the target that by 2021, we would eliminate marriage of girls under 15 and reduce by a third the girls who are getting married under 18. By 2041, she wants zero child marriage. It is an ambitious target, but achievable provided that you put certain things in action. It is not like one thing can solve the problem, you have to attack it on different fronts,” she said.
“In 1929, almost 90 years back, we set the standard that for girls the age for marriage is 18 and for boys it is 21. So, if we can enforce the law, we can certainly overcome this issue which is weighing us down. But the existing law, since it was drafted in 1921 and the financial penalties are dated from that time, is very little translated into present time and the incarceration period is also very little, so there is a move to strengthen it,” Zaman added.
Punishment for marrying a child under the archaic law is either imprisonment for up to one month and/ or a fine of up to Tk1,000, while the marriage, if already solemnised, is not void.
“And the other roadblock is we cannot file a case if we see a child marriage. It has to be a locally elected representative who files the case on behalf of the victim. If this clause is strengthened, it would hold more people accountable for child marriage. A proposed update of existing laws and other clauses has been incorporated in the new act, which has been accepted by the cabinet, but it needs to be passed (by parliament). Plan had provided technical support to draft this revision to strengthen the law,” Zaman said.
“But then, all of a sudden we heard that a clause would be incorporated that would allow girls who are above 16 but below 18 to marry with special permission of the court, and that caused quite an uproar from all spheres of society. We said no, if you allow this, you will open up a floodgate and we cannot do that. Because of this push back, this law has not been introduced yet and we do not know its the status. Now our question is, why is this stronger law not been passed?”
In September 2014, the Cabinet approved lowering the minimum age of marriage to 16 from 18 in the draft of Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014. Despite immediate outcry from child rights advocates, the status of the draft law remains uncertain even after almost two years. 
However, an official at the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs in an interview with  the Weekend hinted that the legal age of marriage for girls would remain at 18 years. 
“The legal age of marriage will not be reduced to 16, and neither will we be including the probation that girls under 18 and above 15 will be allowed to marry under special circumstances,” said Shamima Akhter Banu, Director General (Awareness), Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs. 
The DG said steps are also being taken  at district level, where every district will come up with a plan of their own to meet their specific needs, so the problem of child marriage can be tackled successfully by the community on its own through interventions and focus group discussions.
“We have many programmes at community levels to address this issue. Awareness campaigns are being carried out in schools, so more girls are encouraged to stay in school and pursue education. We are working with UNICEF in a funded project under which a girl will get a Tk2,000 stipend if she stays in school, with the attached condition that she cannot get married until 18. We are also brining all the kazi (marriage registrars) under a registration programme and making a database,” Banu added.
Many development organisations are working towards eliminating this serious human rights issue and trying to raise awareness through campaigns and conventions geared towards focus groups. 
BRAC recently held a nationwide ‘Kishoree-Kishor Convention’, focussing on the role of youths in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. One of the key issues addressed by the participating girls and boys was early marriage and its correlation with climate change. BRAC’s Disaster Management and Climate Change programme, with the cooperation of its Adolescent Development Programme, arranged the convention which was held in four regions of the country _ Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi _ throughout October. 
Bangladesh National Women’s Lawyers Association (BNWLA) works actively against violence against women, and since early marriage is considered a violence issue as young girls are often abused, abandoned or trafficked after marriage, they are rescued and provided with rehabilitation by BNWLA. 
“In rural areas, a girl is married off early because men prefer younger wives. Often, the parents are required to pay less amount in dowry if the girl is young. The dowry goes up with the age of the girl. I have found this to be the case with many women I have spoken to. We are trying to make people aware of the health consequences of early marriage and the dangers of adolescence pregnancies, the risk it poses for both the mother and child,” says Salma Ali, an advocate and executive director of BNWLA. 
In a case coordinated by BNWLA earlier this year, the marriage of a 15-year-old girl in Balaganj upazila of Sylhet district was halted just in time with the collective efforts of a SPG (social protecting group) monitor, a legal counsellor and a social worker, with help from the local administrative officer and elected village chairman. According to the case study, the girl’s father had arranged her marriage with a Bangladeshi working in Oman as “he is rich and she will have lifelong security.” It can be mentioned that the girl appeared in the SSC exams in February and is eager to continue her studies in college.
All hope is not lost and change is possible, it might be slow, but it will surely come. Why do we have this optimism even in the face of such dire conditions? Well, there is Radha Rani Sarkar.
 The story of the girl from a remote village in Dinajpur district will surely give rise to more courageous girls around the country. The youngest daughter of Gopal Chandra and Shanti Rani Sarkar, she has been a child rights activist from the age of nine. Her activism on the rights of children and successful prevention of several child marriages led to her selection for ‘International Day of the Girl Child Takeover’ programmes held in Paris and Brussels in October. 
About her recent trip, Radha said: “I wanted to learn from them about abilities, power and challenges to change the world, alongside sharing my experiences and ideas about protecting the girls’ rights.” 
She is a beacon of hope for girls like Kulsum who got dragged around without a say from the tender age of 12. Radha had the courage to say no to early marriage when her family tried to marry her off at the age of 14 after the death of her father. She fought for her rights and demanded to continue of her education, and at present is a second year honours student in a local college. 
At the end of the day, it is up to all of us as a society to stop the scourge of early marriage, which rob so many of our children of their childhoods and infringe on their rights as citizens. 
 “The Prime Minister’s Office is taking a number of steps under its governance innovations unit and access to information project. Plan is actually partnering with the access to information call with a challenge to come up with solutions for preventing child marriage. It is open for all, so if the media think they have a good idea, they can also submit it! The best ideas will be selected and tested to see whether it will work as a sustainable solution. The deadline is October 30. This is one way of finding solutions to reduce the rate of child marriage,” said Tania Zaman of Plan. 

Parveen Ahmed contributed to this report.

Some names have been changed to protect the child victims.

Photos: Courtesy, Internet.

Not for Children

Fifteen-year-old Kulsum works as a maid at a house in the capitals Dhanmondi area. One day, her father calls her employers and informs them that he would be taking her back home at the weekend, as her marriage is being fixed. When asked about her predicament, Kulsum hides her face with her scarf and walks away. She was not given any choice when she was dropped off one day two years ago in an unknown residence in Dhaka to work as a household help, and neither does she have any say in her fathers decision to marry her off at 15. Like Kulsum, Naseema, who also lives in Dhanmondi, had her marriage arranged by her businessman father when she was 16 and had just taken her O Level exams. She wanted to study medicine, and the husbands family agreed to let her continue with her studies. However, within the first year of marriage she had a baby, and now five years on, she is a stay-at-home mum of two toddlers. She had aced her O levels and someday, hopes to finish her A levels through distance learning. Such scenarios are eerily prevalent in Bangladesh, placing it among countries with the highest rates of child marriage. Even though our law sets 18 as the legal age for girls to marry, and 21 for men, according to reports by rights groups and nonprofit organisations working to prevent child marriages, almost 29 percent of girls in Bangladesh are married off before the age of 15, while 65 percent are married before the 18. Many boys are married as children, too, but there is barely any research on the effects of marriage on underage boys when they are perhaps not ready, psychologically or financially, to take care of a wife and children. According to UNICEF, girls are disproportionately the most affected.Child marriage has lasting consequences on girls, from their health, education and social development perspectives. Many factors contribute to driving parents to marry off their daughters early and these include social pressure, community mindset, fear of sexual harassment, poverty, natural disasters, gender inequality and lack of access to education or job opportunities. Then there is the illegal practice of dowry _ parents can pay less for marrying off their young daughter, who is then considered as a free worker, albeit underage, by her in-laws. Health is a major factor that affects the lives of underage brides. Since reproductive health issues are little discussed at home or school, girls are not aware of contraceptive options or the health risks of having children early. Research shows that girls who bear children at age 10 to 14 are more likely to face dire health consequences, even death, than women who give birth at 20 to 24. It also reveals that girls aged between 15 to 19 are still vulnerable to child birth. Most girls who marry early never return to school, thus, limiting their ability to develop intellectually and socially, and make healthy life decisions. Research linking disruption in education and child marriage reveals that girls who go on to secondary and higher education are less likely to marry at a young age. About the governments role in trying to reduce the harrowing rate of child marriage in Bangladesh, Tania Zaman, head of Child Rights and Protection at Plan International in Dhaka, told the Weekend Independent: Child marriage is a huge issue globally, and for us it is surely is. It is recognised by the government as a major issue as well. The prevalence rate will hopefully come down as we see the government committed towards making a difference, along with the NGOs and development partners as everybody has acknowledged this as an issue to be addressed. The prime minister has set the target that by 2021, we would eliminate marriage of girls under 15 and reduce by a third the girls who are getting married under 18. By 2041, she wants zero child marriage. It is an ambitious target, but achievable provided that you put certain things in action. It is not like one thing can solve the problem, you have to attack it on different fronts, she said. In 1929, almost 90 years back, we set the standard that for girls the age for marriage is 18 and for boys it is 21. So, if we can enforce the law, we can certainly overcome this issue which is weighing us down. But the existing law, since it was drafted in 1921 and the financial penalties are dated from that time, is very little translated into present time and the incarceration period is also very little, so there is a move to strengthen it, Zaman added. Punishment for marrying a child under the archaic law is either imprisonment for up to one month and/ or a fine of up to Tk1,000, while the marriage, if already solemnised, is not void. And the other roadblock is we cannot file a case if we see a child marriage. It has to be a locally elected representative who files the case on behalf of the victim. If this clause is strengthened, it would hold more people accountable for child marriage. A proposed update of existing laws and other clauses has been incorporated in the new act, which has been accepted by the cabinet, but it needs to be passed (by parliament). Plan had provided technical support to draft this revision to strengthen the law, Zaman said. But then, all of a sudden we heard that a clause would be incorporated that would allow girls who are above 16 but below 18 to marry with special permission of the court, and that caused quite an uproar from all spheres of society. We said no, if you allow this, you will open up a floodgate and we cannot do that. Because of this push back, this law has not been introduced yet and we do not know its the status. Now our question is, why is this stronger law not been passed? In September 2014, the Cabinet approved lowering the minimum age of marriage to 16 from 18 in the draft of Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014. Despite immediate outcry from child rights advocates, the status of the draft law remains uncertain even after almost two years. However, an official at the Ministry of Women and Childrens Affairs in an interview with the Weekend hinted that the legal age of marriage for girls would remain at 18 years. The legal age of marriage will not be reduced to 16, and neither will we be including the probation that girls under 18 and above 15 will be allowed to marry under special circumstances, said Shamima Akhter Banu, Director General (Awareness), Ministry of Women and Childrens Affairs. The DG said steps are also being taken at district level, where every district will come up with a plan of their own to meet their specific needs, so the problem of child marriage can be tackled successfully by the community on its own through interventions and focus group discussions. We have many programmes at community levels to address this issue. Awareness campaigns are being carried out in schools, so more girls are encouraged to stay in school and pursue education. We are working with UNICEF in a funded project under which a girl will get a Tk2,000 stipend if she stays in school, with the attached condition that she cannot get married until 18. We are also brining all the kazi (marriage registrars) under a registration programme and making a database, Banu added. Many development organisations are working towards eliminating this serious human rights issue and trying to raise awareness through campaigns and conventions geared towards focus groups. BRAC recently held a nationwide Kishoree-Kishor Convention, focussing on the role of youths in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. One of the key issues addressed by the participating girls and boys was early marriage and its correlation with climate change. BRACs Disaster Management and Climate Change programme, with the cooperation of its Adolescent Development Programme, arranged the convention which was held in four regions of the country _ Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi _ throughout October. Bangladesh National Womens Lawyers Association (BNWLA) works actively against violence against women, and since early marriage is considered a violence issue as young girls are often abused, abandoned or trafficked after marriage, they are rescued and provided with rehabilitation by BNWLA. In rural areas, a girl is married off early because men prefer younger wives. Often, the parents are required to pay less amount in dowry if the girl is young. The dowry goes up with the age of the girl. I have found this to be the case with many women I have spoken to. We are trying to make people aware of the health consequences of early marriage and the dangers of adolescence pregnancies, the risk it poses for both the mother and child, says Salma Ali, an advocate and executive director of BNWLA. In a case coordinated by BNWLA earlier this year, the marriage of a 15-year-old girl in Balaganj upazila of Sylhet district was halted just in time with the collective efforts of a SPG (social protecting group) monitor, a legal counsellor and a social worker, with help from the local administrative officer and elected village chairman. According to the case study, the girls father had arranged her marriage with a Bangladeshi working in Oman as he is rich and she will have lifelong security. It can be mentioned that the girl appeared in the SSC exams in February and is eager to continue her studies in college. All hope is not lost and change is possible, it might be slow, but it will surely come. Why do we have this optimism even in the face of such dire conditions? Well, there is Radha Rani Sarkar. The story of the girl from a remote village in Dinajpur district will surely give rise to more courageous girls around the country. The youngest daughter of Gopal Chandra and Shanti Rani Sarkar, she has been a child rights activist from the age of nine. Her activism on the rights of children and successful prevention of several child marriages led to her selection for International Day of the Girl Child Takeover programmes held in Paris and Brussels in October. About her recent trip, Radha said: I wanted to learn from them about abilities, power and challenges to change the world, alongside sharing my experiences and ideas about protecting the girls rights. She is a beacon of hope for girls like Kulsum who got dragged around without a say from the tender age of 12. Radha had the courage to say no to early marriage when her family tried to marry her off at the age of 14 after the death of her father. She fought for her rights and demanded to continue of her education, and at present is a second year honours student in a local college. At the end of the day, it is up to all of us as a society to stop the scourge of early marriage, which rob so many of our children of their childhoods and infringe on their rights as citizens. The Prime Ministers Office is taking a number of steps under its governance innovations unit and access to information project. Plan is actually partnering with the access to information call with a challenge to come up with solutions for preventing child marriage. It is open for all, so if the media think they have a good idea, they can also submit it! The best ideas will be selected and tested to see whether it will work as a sustainable solution. The deadline is October 30. This is one way of finding solutions to reduce the rate of child marriage, said Tania Zaman of Plan. Parveen Ahmed contributed to this report. Some names have been changed to protect the child victims. Photos: Courtesy, Internet.