Child marriage must be stopped

DESPITE progress on many fronts, Bangladesh continues to have one of the highest child marriage rates worldwide. Fifty-two per cent of our girls are married by their 18th birthday, and 18 per cent by the age of 15. Child marriage is more prevalent in rural areas where 71 per cent of girls are married before the age of 18, compared to 54 per cent in urban areas. This does not augur well for a country which is expected to rise to middle income status by 2021.

Drivers of child marriage in our country include poverty, parents' desire to secure economic and social security for their daughters, and the perceived need to protect girls from harm, including sexual harassment. Dowry is another factor.

It is good to see that the government has taken a firm stand on child marriage and often we see people involved in child marriages landing in prisons. Common people have also become more aware of the negative impact of child marriages. But child marriage is not limited to our country only, it is a global problem and the United Nations is working on it. I am sure in the near future we shall have child marriages totally abolished from the world. But for that we need to create security for our women so that they can compete with their male counterparts on equal terms.

Roksana Sultana

Uttara, Dhaka