State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki said the minimum age of marriage for girls will remain 18 years without any change in the existing provision, reports BSS.
“The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is a women-friendly government, which has given highest priority to empowerment of women. There will be no anti-women law in the tenure of this government,” she said while speaking at an opinion exchange meeting organised by BRAC at Spectra Convention Centre in the capital yesterday.
The state minister said finding the reasons of early marriage is necessary for permanent solution to this social problem. The present government is formulating relevant laws in view of this, she added.
Poverty, lack of social security, ignorance of guardians, lack of knowledge about reproductive health and some other reasons are responsible for early marriage, she said.  The state minister called for waging a mass movement to create awareness in this regard.
Presided over by BRAC Executive Director Dr Muhammad Musa, the meeting was also addressed by former caretaker government adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury, Deputy Inspector General of Police Mili Biswas, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad President Ayesha Khanam, CEDAW Committee former chairperson Salma Khan, Dhaka University Professor Dr Nazma Chowdhury, Women for Women Chairperson Zakia Hassan, DFID Country Director Sarah Cooce and media personnel Farzana Rupa.
Gender expert and BRAC Gender Justice Diversity and Migration Programme Director Shipa Hafiz presented the keynote paper on elimination of early marriage.
Speaking on the occasion Dr Musa said along with formulation and implementation of laws, effective social movement would have to be launched to remove the social menace.