Around 67 per cent of girls aged between 13 and 49 in Bangladesh get married before reaching the age of 18, says a new study by the Population Sciences Department of Dhaka University and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). It also reveals that child marriage has a negative impact on a  girl's education. Girls getting married before 18 are one-and-a-half times more likely to drop out of schools than those who get married as adults. “Child marriage has detrimental health effects. Findings show that the under-five child mortality rate is 1.8 times higher for mothers becoming pregnant before 18 than those who get pregnant after 18,” the study said.
Girls who get married and become pregnant before reaching physical, emotional and financial maturity show a much higher unmet needs for family planning methods, leading to increased rates of pregnancy terminations and higher risks of maternal morbidities. The preliminary findings of the study underscore the importance of investing more in education, especially in girls’ education.
The study suggests that policymakers should consider making provisions for compulsory higher secondary education for girls. On the basis of the evidence found, mandatory gender-sensitive curricula should be considered at the school level, as child marriage is clearly linked to social norms and gender constructions.
The study says that Bangladesh has one of the highest rates
of child marriage in the world and observes that girls’ education is essential to end child marriage.
The preliminary findings of the first ever comprehensive research on the "Context of Child Marriage and its implications in Bangladesh" were presented at a function at Dhaka University yesterday. The research, funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) under the Global Programme on Accelerating Action to End Child Marriage in Bangladesh, looked into the causes and consequences of child marriage in Bangladesh.
The preliminary findings from the survey, which was conducted among some 7,000 women across 14 districts, provide evidence for importance of education in preventing child marriage. In households where fathers have educational qualification up to the higher secondary level and above, the rate of child marriage has nearly halved. In households where mothers have education beyond the secondary level, the rate of child marriage dropped by more than two-thirds.
The educational level of girls and women at the time of their first marriage has an equally dramatic effect. Girls with no education are more than three times more likely to become victims of child marriage.
Iori Kato, officer-in-charge of UNFPA, said: “I do not want Bangladesh to be referred to as the worst country in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of child marriage anymore. I would like Bangladesh to be remembered as the country which has made the best efforts to put an end to child marriage. Let us use the evidence from this research to plan better policies and programmes.”