Majority back 18 years as minimum marriage age

FE Report | Published: December 04, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

State Minister for Children and Women Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki on Wednesday said 18 years as the minimum age of marriage won over the proposed 16 years.
"The recent cabinet move to enact the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014 sparked debate across the country, and we see majority people supported 18 years as the minimum age,"
However, there might be a special provision in the proposed law for complicated cases in connection with the marriage age, she opined.
The state minister also said the law has not been passed yet, and still there are scopes for bringing necessary amendments to it.
She said these while speaking as the chief guest of a discussion titled 'Role of Media to Combat Child and Early-Forced Marriage (CEFM)'. Women Journalists Network Bangladesh (WJNB), supported by Canadian High Commission in Dhaka, organised the programme for journalists.
Meher Afroz Chumki also hoped that child and early-forced marriage would go away before 2021, if other development indices, including education rate of women, remain high and go higher.
She sought all-out support from the media, as the journalists can create positive awareness and prevent early marriage.
Acting High Commissioner of Canada Christian Tardif was present in the programme as the special guest. UNFPA Representative Argentina Matavel Piccin, Country Representative of UN Women Christine Hunter, Deputy Representative of UNICEF Louise Mvono, Daily Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta, and Joint Secretary of National Press Club Farida Yasmin were present as guests of honour.
Prothom Alo senior reporter Monsura Hossain presented the keynote paper, while WJNB coordinator Angur Nahar Monty gave the welcome address.
On September 15, the cabinet okayed the draft Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014. In the meeting, law ministry was also asked to review the possibilities if the minimum age of marriage for females can be lowered from 18 to 16 and that for males from 21 to 18 in accordance with the 1929 Act.
Earlier, in the July 2014 Girl Summit in London, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pledged to take steps to reduce and ultimately bring to an end child marriage in Bangladesh.
She committed, by 2021, to end marriage for girls under the age of 15, and reduce by more than one-third the number of girls, to get married, between 15 years and 18 years. Bangladesh also pledged to end all child marriages by 2041.
The government also committed to develop a national plan of action on child marriage before 2015, and take other steps to change social norms and engage civil society in the fight against child marriage.
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