In the last five years, over 60% of Bangladeshi families have practised child marriage, with girls marrying or entering families as daughters-in-law before turning 18, a recent Brac study reveals.
The study, titled “Born to be a Bride, Child Marriage: Trends and Causes”, was published at an event at the Brac centre in Dhaka on Thursday.
Brac Social Empowerment and Legal Protection Program (SELP) Head Shashwatee Biplob presented the report, stating: "Brac's SELP surveyed approximately 50,000 households across 27 districts to identify the trends and causes of child marriage."
The data indicated that 44.7% of girls in these districts married before they turned 18, with Pirojpur leading at 72.6% and Netrokona being the lowest at 24.1%.
The report further stated that 6.9% of the girls who were surveyed were under 15 years of age when they married.
Following Pirojpur, districts with notable child marriage rates are Chapainawabganj at 65.2%, Naogaon at 65%, Thakurgaon at 62.5%, and Joypurhat at 61.4%.
Of the girls impacted by child marriage, 56% married before completing secondary school.
Among the surveyed parents, 44% cited "finding a suitable husband" as the reason, while 18% mentioned poverty, 10% pointed to a lack of dowry, 7% highlighted insufficient social security, 6% flagged inadequate education, and 15% gave other reasons.
Meher Afroz Chumki, chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Women and Children Affairs and chief guest on the occasion, emphasized: "Research on child marriage consistently produces similar findings. However, there's no focus on young boys marrying underage girls.”
“We need to modernize our approach. Foreign men often seek younger brides here, which might initially seem appealing, but issues arise due to inexperience in various aspects, including education. Many also tend to leave one wife for another due to inexpedience,” she said.
"With schools providing free books, more girls are attending. But their education does not extend beyond that due to the still prevailing trends of child marriage," she added.
Department of Women Affairs Additional Director(Deputy Secretary) Saleha Binte Siraj noted: "The government has introduced several measures, including teenage clubs, to curtail child marriage, yet it remains prevalent."
Various donor groups, UN representatives, and national and international development organizations also attended the event.
Brac’s Social Empowerment and Legal Protection Program has initiated a comprehensive effort against child marriage.
As part of this, their SELP program established village-based "Shopnosarthi" teams comprising girls at risk.
By including parents of teenagers in the program, they aim to raise awareness of child marriage's repercussions.
Speakers at the occasion expressed hope that “Shopnosarthi” program will play a positive role in preventing child marriage.