Child marriage has many adversities and marriage of girls before the age of 18 pose many health risks. Girls should continue education and learn about their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) to save their lives and the lives of their children as well. That would help Bangladesh to be a model of a healthy nation. Girls and women in Bangladesh and other countries in South Asia face most of the superstitions compared to men. Many girls and women get psychiatric disorders due to practicing the misconceptions during their menstrual period, pregnancy and after delivery. For example, in terms of women’s reproductive health, food security and nutrition, they face and apply many unacceptable superstitions, misinformation due to ignorance. Limited mobility and lack of access to get the correct information from family members and other unreliable sources push them to life-threatening dangers. Women have less participation in decision-making, and they are ‘used to’ in many harmful practices including child marriage. Certainly it is one kind of violence against girls, and threat to public health that pulls the nation back to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to implement national health, family planning and other essential policies.

As part of conducting my research recently, I have talked to many adolescent girls of different religion in both urban and rural areas in Bangladesh about their menstrual period, menstrual hygiene management, and child marriage.  I have learned from them that their knowledge on sexual and reproductive health and rights is generally very poor and what is known is often incorrect as it is derived from unreliable sources. For example, from friends or peers, they are equally unaware. Adolescents are generally discouraged to discuss their sexual and reproductive health and rights with their superiors, parents and teachers. Traditional beliefs and taboos restrict such discussion. And the flow of accurate information on SRHR does not reach the adolescents correctly and timely.

Professor of Economics and a researcher Dr. Sharmind Neelormi of Jahangir Nagar University shared with me some of her research findings.  She informed, “Water logged situation often increases diarrhoea, dysentery, and skin diseases. Pregnant women cannot stroll in the marooned condition. They are forced to stay back inside the house and ultimately falling victim to unhygienic reproductive health conditions. In many cases it has been observed that people are not keen to establish a marital relationship with the women from water logging affected areas because those women generally suffer from skin diseases.”

In the saline- affected areas women and adolescent girls are affected by gynaecological problems by using saline water during menstruation. Women, explaining the bitter experiences about menstrual hygiene management, report that the saline water creates pain during menstruation. Their used cloths become very hard after drying due to salinity in water, which creates genital injury, infection and other complications.  The prevalence of Blue Baby syndrome seems higher in saline prone areas as compared to other districts in Bangladesh. It is yet to establish whether there is any direct relationship with the consumption of saline water by the mother. In every extreme weather situation, the affected sanitation system, severely affect the women and adolescent girl’s reproductive health the most, Dr. Sharmind added.

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), which is part of the United Nations system, organized an International Women’s Day event titled ‘Celebrating Womanhood: menstrual hygiene management’ in Geneva, Switzerland on March 8, 2013. It says that menstrual hygiene management is a taboo subject and one that is largely neglected.  For example, a recent study in India conducted by Plan India and AC Nielson reported: 335 million women menstruate on a monthly basis; 12 percent have access to and use sanitary pads; 200 million have poor understanding of menstrual hygiene; and 23 percent of girls drop out of school after reaching puberty. Lack of knowledge, facilities and good policies on menstrual hygiene management has profound consequences for health and development for women and girls, and for society more broadly. Like India, the facts and figures of Bangladesh and other developing countries in the world are more or less same on menstrual hygiene management.

So, considering all the odds and obstacles, adolescent girls should put themselves in the frontline to get the correct information on SRHR in improving their own reproductive health. Poor reproductive health is a product of impaired socio-economic conditions in which girls and women live. Reproductive health is often compromised by the violation of the human rights as well as by various intertwined factors embedded in girls and women’s surroundings. The dearth of relevant medical knowledge, and unavailability, low quality and non-affordability of the services require comprehensive efforts.   Adolescent girls must have proper access to sexual and reproductive health information to avoid unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Young people must be recognized as a crucial resource for realizing the post-2015 United Nations development agenda. The government and education institutions cannot expect that adolescents will remain in schools and colleges by maintaining that they are not allowed to know about their body or make their own choices regarding sexual health knowledge.  

In fact, child marriages - the real picture in Bangladesh is: false age statements, cultural setting - lack of security for girls, school dropouts, employment in garment factories and exposure to men are the devastating impact on their health and nutritional status. They carry these practices over to the next generation as well, and ultimately affect country's development potential.  Regarding reproductive justice, proponents say--prioritizing this concept over choice means putting the horse before the cart and ensuring that choice will indeed become a reality. Therefore, stop child marriage, and ensure SRHR to save the lives of girls and women to build a healthy nation.

The writer is a public

health specialist