EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH

Child Marriage in Bangladesh Affects the Health of Child Brides

and Solutions to the Problem Research
Panjarat Kulvanichpisit
World Geography Class 2015-2016

EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH

Abstract
The following research papers explores one of the most common problems throughout
the globe, child marriage and how they affects young girls. This paper will be focusing
on Bangladesh since its in the top list of practicing child marriage. The following papers
will discuss about the physical, emotional/mental, and social health that were affected
by child marriage, how does it affect Bangladesh as a whole, and how the world is doing
to solved this problem.

Child Marriage in Bangladesh Affects the Health of Child Brides

EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH

And Solution to the Problem Research

Child marriage had appeared throughout history like Princess Emilia of Saxony in
1533, at age 16 married George the Pious aged 48 years! As surprising as it sounds,
child marriage still continues today, mostly widespread in developing countries such as
parts of Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Asia. Bangladesh is in one of the
top 5 countries practicing child marriages. According to a UNICEF study, Bangladesh
has the highest rate of child marriage of girls fewer than 15 in the world, with 29% of
girls in Bangladesh married before the age 15. The most common reason for child
marriage are poverty and financial situation, there are many risks concerning to the
health of the child put into marriage especially for girls. Child marriage has effect on
girls concerning their physical, emotional/mental, and their social health. This research
paper will explain how does it affect the child.
Physical Health
Although the legal age for marriage is 18 for girls (21 for boys), child marriage is
a common occurrence in Bangladesh, particularly among the poorest populations
(mdgfundorg, 2016). According to UNICEF about half of all Bangladeshi girls are
married by the age of 15, and 16% become mothers by the age of 19. The scary part of
child marriage is having a young pregnant mother. Girls who are pregnant at an early
age are prone to high risks of miscarriages or abortions. This happens because at such
young age, the girls do not know what to do or what to avoid. Lack of improper diet also
causes miscarriages. Not only babies who will be affected by this but young mothers
also are in danger of having diseases and worst case possibly, died.
Early marriage had generally affected girl child in all areas: educationally, morally,
and physically. Most of these kids end up having Visio-Vaginal Fistula
(amplifyyourvoiceorg, 2012). The IWHC reports that younger pregnant adolescents
almost always go through prolonged and obstructed labor that usually leads to
hemorrhage, severe infection, and maternal death and those who survive such
complications are at high risk of developing an obstetric fistula. Fistula, in general, is an
abnormal or surgically made passage between a hollow or tubular organ. Therefore, a
Visio-Vaginal Fistula is an abnormality of the opening that connects your vagina to
another organ. Young girls who get this disease is because theyre too young, their body

EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH

are not ready to give birth and theyre not strong enough to fight off these infections
causing the majority of girls in early marriage to get this disease. Some young brides
also have traces of being abused by their spouses and they cannot fight back. Early
pregnancy and childbirth limit a girls opportunity and often leads to health
complications. Girl who marries young usually drop out of school and are more likely to
remain poor; about half of teenage girls in Bangladesh suffer from malnutrition and
anemia (mdgfundorg, 2016). Not only that getting pregnant can cause the younger
mother to have diseases but the mother also have to take the responsibility of taking
care of another human being, which some of them are not ready mentally and
physically, but this will be discussed in the next section.
Emotional/Mental Health
As being discussed before, young mothers do not only face physical health but
also mental and emotional problems. According to Huffington Post, a study of
thousands of women found that marriage before the age of 18 was linked with greater
risk of depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder (Anna North, 2016). Think about this,
teenagers are the age where hormones are raging, they are curious, they are energetic,
and they are risky people. They are not at all qualified to become a parent where they
need a tremendous amount of responsibility and they must be mature enough in order
to raised kids that would grow to be a good citizen. More than half (53%) of
Bangladeshs women who are married before the age of 18 years reported having had a
mental disorder such as depression compared with 49% of the woman married later
(Jamacom, 2011). Its no doubt that this happen because with babies, the person could
not do anything they want to do because they have to take care of the child. Another
factor thats why its mostly girls who have depressions is because, they are mostly the
one who will be taking care of the baby and when they have problems, they couldnt
consult anybody about it because their partner are just like a stranger; someone their
parents let them married without knowing.
The reasons conducted by a report, Marry Before Your House Swept Away:
Child Marriage in Bangladesh said that, by conducting an interview with more than a
hundred married girls, some as young as 10 years old, they found out that the factors
that drive child marriage in Bangladesh includes, poverty, natural disasters, lack of

EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH

access to education, social pressure, harassment, and dowry. Human Rights watch also
details that the damage a child get from marriage is discontinuation of secondary
education, in other words, the young child are being forced to drop out of school. As
said before, they also received serious health consequences including death from early
pregnancy, abandonment, and domestic violence from their spouses and in-laws. The
live of a young girl has to be put into something they didnt choose. Think about living
with a stranger who is stronger than you and abused you, being at that young age, you
are helpless to fight back and you lived in fear or the rest of your life. When we are
stressed, our emotional and mental health are not healthy either. Without healthy minds,
it affects all of the other factors like their social and physical health as well.
Our society and socio economic development also plays a part in it. Therefore,
having young girls who will become the future women of the society and our world, with
depression and poor emotional/mental health, will also makes our society in the future
unhappy as well. Womens Health Federation states that Womens health is often
compromised not by lack of medical knowledge, but by infringements on womens
human rights.
Social Health
Most girls who are put into early marriage in Bangladesh came from a poor
family. When entering child marriage, the girl are forced to be drop out of school which
makes them lack access to education because their families cannot afford fees for
exams, uniforms, stationery, and other associated costs even when the costs of
education is free (hrworg, 2015). Seeing their child as a burden or wanting the child to
have something to eat, the families will seek a husband for their daughters. However,
this lack of education and knowledge will greatly affect the girls social health.
Three main drivers of child marriage includes: The economic impoverishment,
the tradition and the need to reinforce and established social tiles, and the belief that it
offers protection and securities and to reduce burden placed on family (Uniteforsightorg,
2016). Little did they know, these solutions does not only affect the immediate health
risks, of increased STI rates, maternal mortality, and poor child health outcomes. For
example, when young girls are forced into early marriage, they are usually forced to be
dropped out of school and end their education. This has an unintended consequences

EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH

throughout their lives and can lead to increased social and financial dependence on
their spouse or their family or people around them because without knowledge, they
could not go to work to earn money therefore, they have to rely on others to give them
some financial income. They also lack individual empowerment, in other words, the lack
of having the power to authorized themselves since they became so dependent on
others. With young age and little knowledge, the young girls often face challenges to the
demands required in the planning and management of a family. The instability of family
environments can lead to health consequences for the next generations.
In Bangladesh, a report of UNESCO of literacy rate in Bangladesh (2015) is 61.5
percent with men 64.6 percent and women 58.5 percent. Another 41.5 percent of
women in Bangladesh are still uneducated and even though some who were educated
will still enter a child marriage anyways and have to be forced to drop out of school.
Most girls who doesnt received education are usually in the urban province area, where
child marriage is common. Comparing to the global literacy rate for all people aged 15
and over is 86.3 percent. The global literacy rate for all females is 82.7 percent,
Bangladesh is still behind the average literacy rate of other countries quite a lot. Girls
without education will continue to be poor and they will find it harder to leave the poverty
cycle and some might even continue to practice child marriage because they think they
couldnt afford to raise a child by their own.
Loss of Personal Development
Early marriage of girls (and boys) will loss the experience of realization and
enjoyment of virtually all of their rights. Most girls who are unhappy in an imposed
marriage are very isolated. They lost their freedom as well as personal development.
This create a problem for them to socialize to other people because they are being
isolated and loss the experience that they are supposed to get at that time. They are
subjected to the atrocities of domestic violence and abandonment. In one article of
Human Rights Watch, it has document the life of Bangladeshi girl named Belkis, 15
years old with her one-year old son. She was abandoned by her husband whom she
was married to at the age of 13; now she fears her familys home will be wash away by
river erosion by the end of the year. Because she was dropped out of school, now she
couldnt do anything much to help support her family, her son, or even herself.

EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH

Solutions to Child Marriage

Many countries are trying to solve Child Marriage even in the Bangladeshs
government. In September 2014, the Cabinet of Bangladesh approved language in the
draft Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014 to lower the minimum age of marriage from 18
to 16 years for girls representing a regressive step for efforts to end child marriage.
Legal Protection of Child Marriage
In Bangladesh, the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 is the main law for
controlling early marriage. According to the Act, the minimum legal age for marriage is
18 years for females. Along with this Act, early marriage are punishable by law.
However this is poorly enforced and the punishment of either imprisonment of up to one
month and/or a fine up to 1,000 Taka (US$13 or around 450 Thai Baht) rarely acts as a
deterrent for child marriages. Therefore, strengthening, implementing and resourcing
laws and policies which prevent child marriage is an important step towards recognising
and upholding girls rights. While most countries legislate for a minimum legal age of
marriage, the age of marriage is often higher for men than it is for women and many
countries continue to have a legal age of marriage lower than in the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child.
Gender discrimination and loopholes in the law continue to be rife especially when it
comes to issues around parental consent, the right to own and inherit property,
separation and divorce and access to professional services and support. Furthermore,
many countries have a pluralistic legal system meaning customary law often contradicts
and overrides national law making enforcement difficult.
Empowers Girls
We should work directly with girls to give them the opportunity to build skills and
knowledge, understand and exercise their rights and develop support networks, is an
important part of our efforts to end child marriage.
Using an empowerment approach can lead to positive outcomes for girls and their
families by supporting girls to become agents of change, helping them envisage what
alternative roles could look like in their communities and ultimately helping them to build
their own pathway in life.

EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH

Supporting young people to be agents of change. Supporting young people

to be agents of change can be an effective and empowering process in and of itself.
Many organisations work with young people so they can advocate for change as well as
helping to inform the design of programmes that directly benefit their peers. Youth
groups, encouraging dialogue between youth and community leaders, and building the
capacity of young people are all ways of supporting young people to be champions of
change in their own communities.
Safe Space Programme. Safe space programmes which offer a varied
curriculum covering life skills, health and financial literacy which can provide girls with
an opportunity to build their skills, learn and meet friends and mentors in an informal
setting and learn about the services they can access in their community.
Safe space programmes can successfully build girls self-confidence, agency and selfefficacy, which they need to use in real life. They can provide a good alternative for girls
who do not have access to formal education such as married girls. Having a safe
regular meeting place allows girls to meet with peers and share experiences which can
reduce their sense of isolation and vulnerability.
Some of these programmes have economic empowerment components, such as
conditional cash transfers, or the provision of a goat or chicken, which have proven
successful in increasing the age of marriage.
Mobilize Families and Communities
One of the common problems that we see about the drive of child marriage in
Bangladesh is the way the family see how child marriage become a rooted tradition that
has been practice for a very long time. For change to happen, the values and norms
which support the practice of child marriage need to shift. Working with families and the
wider community to raise awareness of the harmful consequences of child marriage can
change attitudes and reduce the acceptance among those who make the decision to
marry girls as children.
Working with men and boys. Working with men and boys is a critical part of our
efforts to end child marriage. In many communities it is the men who hold the power and

EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH

make the decisions. Interventions targeting fathers, brothers, husbands and future
husbands are important in helping men and boys reflect on the status quo and see the
benefits of a community which values and supports girls and women to fulfil their
potential.
Community level change. Community level change underpins all of our efforts
in preventing child marriage and mitigating the harmful effects for married girls. Without
change at this level, the day-to-day reality for girls all over the world will remain the
same. At the grassroots, organisations are driving change by campaigning, holding
community conversations and using a variety of creative techniques such as street
theatre and art to reflect on the practice of child marriage and communicate its harmful
impacts for girls and their communities. If all of us can just help spread this issue,
eventually, it will become popular and more people might be in favour to support ending
child marriages.
Religious and Traditional Leaders. Religious and traditional leaders, too, have
the potential to play a key role in speaking out against child marriage and changing
community attitudes. In communities where religious and traditional leaders play a
prominent role in decision-making or influencing the prevailing norms, targeted
interventions can support them to become positive advocates for change who fully
understand the implications of child marriage for girls and their families.
Changing norms at scale. Changing norms at scale is integral to the process of
change and a growing number of organisations are using mass media campaigns and
other innovative methods such as radio, TV and digital media to raise awareness of
girls rights and the impact of child marriage. Messages that promote new norms, role
models and positive deviants show positive signs of being an effective way to change
attitudes and behaviours around the value of girls and women.
Provide Services
Addressing child marriage and supporting the needs of married girls requires us
to consider the economic and structural drivers which act as a barrier to ending child
marriage. The most vulnerable girls who have no access to a quality education,

EFFECTS OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH

10

healthcare or child protection mechanisms, are at a much greater risk of child marriage
than girls who do. Ending child marriage requires us to review the services available to
girls as well as asking how they reinforce one another and how they can be
strengthened.
Ensuring an accessible and high-quality, safe schools. Increasing access to
accessible, high quality and safe schooling is a critical strategy in ending child marriage
and ensuring married girls have the opportunity to complete their education. Education
builds knowledge, opens new opportunities and can help to shift norms around the
value of girls in the community. The very act of girls attending school can reinforce to
the community that girls of school-going age are still children.
Keeping girls in school is an effective way to prevent girls marrying but it is not enough.
Girls need the support to make the transition into secondary school. For married girls, it
is important that schools encourage and support them to continue their education in
either an informal or formal setting such as being part of a safe space programme,
undertaking part-time, remote or vocational learning.
High quality and youth-friendly health services. Both unmarried and married
girls need high quality, youth-friendly health services to live healthy and safe lives. Many
girls in the developing world have an unmet need for sexual reproductive health care
which can put them at risk of early pregnancy and contracting HIV and other STIs.
Girls need to know about their bodies as well as the types of services and healthcare
available to them. Making sure health services are youth-friendly and that girls are able
to access care without judgement and without male supervision is also important.
Providing some health knowledge to girls would lessen the health risks that will affects
the young girls in the future. The girls will also learns to know when their bodies will be
ready grow mature enough to gave birth.
Adequate child protection system. Ensuring there are adequate child
protection mechanisms in place is an important part of our efforts to end child marriage.
Establishing protocols on identifying the warning signs and addressing the risks of child
marriage is a key part of this work.

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11

Child protection services need to be accessible via a number of channels, including

education, health care providers, community workers and the police. Working with
service providers to build their capacity can help to ensure that cases of child marriage
in the community are responded to effectively.
Economic security. Girls and women also need to have economic security if
they are to live safe, healthy and empowered lives. Introducing economic incentives
such as conditional cash transfers can help encourage families to consider alternatives
to child marriage by alleviating their economic hardship and reframing the daughter as a
valued part of the family rather than an economic burden.
Economic empowerment schemes such as microfinance or village savings and loan
schemes can help girls to support themselves and their families without having to be
married. Furthermore, ensuring girls have the opportunity to become financially literate
and have the ability to open and easily access a bank account (without male
supervision) can help them save in a secure way and become financially independent.
Conclusion
In summarization, child marriage is a big problem that happens in many
countries. Bangladesh is one of them and it is in the top rank of the highest rates of
child marriage. Child marriage proves to have a negative effects on the young couples
health especially to the girl because they are the most intact with great risk to their
physical health, emotional health, and social health. For instance, they might suffer from
a disease when they are pregnant before their bodies are ready or they might even lost
their own lives while in the process of giving birth or they might have an abortion. Not
that but young brides also suffers from emotional health since some of them are being
isolated and abandoned. Those things also leads to social health problems because
they dont have anyone much to socialized to and most girls who are being put into child
marriage are forced to drop out of school making them become dependent on others
and couldnt help themselves much.
The solutions to ending child marriage that are being written in here are mostly
practical and plausible to achieve. There are four main solution which are: empower

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12

girls, mobilise families and communities, provide services, and increase economic
securities. As long as we, the human race from every different countries or continents
could work together and spread the awareness or a movement to go against this
custom where we truly believed that it doesnt feel right; we could make everything
possible and together, we could save many lives of young innocent children to regain
their freedom to choose their own path of life.
References
Uniteforsightorg. (2016). Uniteforsightorg. Retrieved 3 March, 2016, from
http://www.uniteforsight.org/women-children-course/child-marriage
Mdgfundorg. (2016). MDG Fund. Retrieved 3 March, 2016, from
http://www.mdgfund.org/node/3487
Amplifyyourvoiceorg. (2012). Amplify - A Project of Advocates for Youth. Retrieved 3
March, 2016, from http://amplifyyourvoice.org/u/radical/2012/11/05/the-effect-of-earlymarriage./
Jamacom. (2011). News@JAMA. Retrieved 3 March, 2016, from
http://newsatjama.jama.com/2011/08/29/early-marriage-has-lasting-consequences-onwomens-mental-health/
Anna north. (2016). Jezebel. Retrieved 3 March, 2016, from
http://jezebel.com/5837496/marriage-before-eighteen-linked-to-psychological-problems
Allison joyce. (2016). Mashable. Retrieved 3 March, 2016, from
http://mashable.com/2015/08/29/bangladeshs-child-bride-problem/