A recent survey titled “Rapid Analysis of Child Marriage Situation during Covid-19 in Bangladesh”, conducted by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) gives us staggering statistics on child marriage in Bangladesh. According to the survey, some 13,886 child marriages took place in 21 districts of Bangladesh between the period of April and October 2020.
When girls get married during childhood they get pregnant quicker than women who marry at older ages and this is leading to real health hazards. Although the country has witnessed a surge in child marriage amid the pandemic, the tendency of the society to see girls’ only job is to get married and produce children is the main reason for such increase, be it before or during the pandemic.
Therefore, this horrific crime needs to be stopped with immediate effect and government has to draw attention to this serious problem.
We need to implement new policy
and launch country-wide campaign
to prevent child marriage
Child marriage not only affect our society but also deprives those unfortunates of educational and work opportunities, which hits our economy as a whole.
Experts opine that in order to prevent child marriages parents and marriage registers involved should be awarded exemplary
punishment.
We all have to accept that child marriages have seen a significant rise amid the pandemic. Till we accept the reality, we will not be able to address this problem, take the right measures, and protect our girls from being sufferers of this vicious crime. By providing financial aids and security measures for those needy families, government can curb the rate of child marriages as they will be convinced not to give marriage to those underage girls.
