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Child Marriage in Bangladesh: The way forward

Event Report

10 September 2013 I Dhaka, Bangladesh

The event Child Marriage in Bangladesh: The Way Forward was aimed to create a better

understanding of the situation around child marriage in Bangladesh and discuss concrete

strategies and actions to address the situation. Two key studies were shared: Stop Child

marriage in Bangladesh: Findings of a National Survey (Plan International Bangladesh and

ICDDR,B) and the regional Asia Child Marriage Initiative study on Bangladesh by the

International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW), focusing on effective strategies to end

child marriage as learned from Plan’s working areas.

This report provides an overview of the key discussion points and actions.

Mark Pierce describes the context in his opening

remarks

The event took off with Elena Ahmed, Interim Country

Director, Plan International Bangladesh, drawing

attention to the need for a more collaborative effort

to end child marriage in the country.

Welcoming all with opening remarks, Plan’s Regional

Director for Asia, Mark Pierce, shared the enormity of

the crisis from a global perspective and gave an

overview of Plan’s work in stopping child marriage.

Mark mentioned Plan’s Because I Am A Girl (BIAAG) campaign that seeks to drum up support

for 9 years of education for girls in order to end child marriage, with education being known

as an effective strategy to do so. He also emphasised the need for integrated action and closer

partnership among key stakeholders including communities and children to take the

movement against child marriage forward.

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Findings of two reports on child marriage shared

64% of all women aged 20-24 were

married before the age of 18, showed

the research report titled Child Marriage

in Bangladesh: Findings from a National

Survey carried out by ICDDR,B. The

report findings presented by Dr Quamrun

Nahar of ICDDR,B also highlighted some

of the factors associated with child

marriage and suggested some actions

that need to be taken to improve the

situation. A key finding was the strong correlation between education and child marriage. It

was found that 86% of women with no education were married before 18 years of age,

compared to 26% of women who had completed secondary or higher education. Higher socio

economic status and employment at the time of marriage also served as a protective factor

against child marriage. Over 70% of decision makers for child marriage are men.

The report also offered a set of recommendations to improve

the situation including promoting girls’ education and the

importance of engaging men and boys. Communities are aware

of the health implications of child marriage, which can serve to

be part of key messaging to change mindsets and social norms.

The report also offere a set

The second study shared was the Asia Child Marriage

Initiative: Bangladesh study. This initiative involves three

countries, - India, Nepal and Bangladesh – and is spearheaded

by Plan’s Asia region. Tara Sinha from ICRW’s regional office

presented the findings which underlined some of Plan’s

strategies that have worked well in preventing child marriage

and identified areas that need strengthening. Tara mentioned

Plan’s child centred community development approach which

focuses on child rights, building the knowledge and agency of

the child and helping and supporting them to become change

agents; working with local leaders; partnering with the state and

declaring and celebrating child marriage free unions (so far 22

unions in Plan’s working areas have been declared as child

marriage free).

The study suggests areas to strengthen are creating aspirations and role models for girls,

creating safe spaces for girls, providing sustained support for children’s organisations and

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working with parents to help them counter the social pressure to marry off their daughters.

Some of the challenges identified by the research towards ending child marriage are poverty,

girls deciding by themselves to get married at an early age and weak law enforcement.

Q&A on the presentations

Dr Selina Amin, Director, Country

Projects, Plan International Bangladesh,

moderated the Q&A session that followed

the two presentations. Here are excerpts:

Q. To what extent does your research

reflect on the importance of reducing

dowry for ending child marriages? Do you

have any recommendations on how we

can reduce dowries?

Tara Sinha from ICRW: Previous studies have shown a strong correlation between dowry and child

marriage. The amount of dowry paid is lower for younger brides. As a result, parents are anxious to get

their daughters married at a younger age to avoid paying a bigger sum of dowry. I think the only way

you can reduce or stop dowry is by changing people’s mindset.

Q. Was the perspective of the public authority reflected in your studies? What challenges are they

facing in implementing the law on child marriage?

Tara: The public authority has a role in enforcing the law. However, civil society movement to end

child marriages can have a greater impact on the enforcement of law. There are specific roles that

community leaders can play e.g. Kazis can stop registering marriages without a real certificate that

proves the bride is above 18.

Q. Do you have data on how many child marriages took place in poorer urban areas because of sexual

harassment or abuse?

Dr. Quamrun Nahar from ICDDR,B: The study was designed to be nationally representative. So the

data was not segregated by socio economic status.

Q. We know that one of the main reasons for girls dropping out schools is child marriage. Do you have

any information about how many girls had to stop their education because of child marriage?

Dr. Quamrun Nahar: The study mainly explored the perceived consequences of child marriage. As

such, dropping out of school was not directly identified by the respondents as a consequence of child

marriage. However, there was a strong correlation found between education and child marriage which

reflects that child marriage has a consequence for girls’ education.

Q. I think we should also work towards changing the marriage law in the long run. At present

marriages in Bangladesh are governed by Family Laws which are different for different religious

groups. The way marriages are conducted also has impact on the prevention of child marriage.

Whether or not marriages need pre-registration or can be done on spot has implications on preventing

child marriage.

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Dr. Quamrun Nahar: It is not clear how realistic it would be to change Family Laws in the context of

Bangladesh. Rather it would be more feasible to change the penalty in the existing Child Marriage

Restraint Act. In addition, it is important to work with communities to raise the value of girls.

Q. We have to work towards changing how society perceives girls i.e. as commodities and how girls

perceive themselves to making a lasting change. Have you looked into how communities could be

motivated to value girls more?

Tara Sinha: It is crucial to raise the value of girls to stop child marriage. One way could be making the

girls economically more productive.

Q. Have you seen any correlation between child marriage and domestic violence or multiple marriages

by men? Is it related to girls marrying older men? Child marriage also has a strong association with

trafficking of girls. Have you found any association between the two factors in your study?

Tara Sinha: Previous studies have found a strong correlation between child marriage and domestic

violence. However, it is not always related to girls marrying older men. Dr. Quamrun Nahar added that

domestic violence was not identified as a perceived consequence of child marriage in the ICDDR,B

study. However, respondents mentioned mental violence as a consequence of child marriage.

Q. Do you have data on the age of the groom? Are the child brides marrying adolescent boys, more

matured men or elderly men? Have you looked into how men and boys could be involved in

prevention of child marriage and as change agents?

Dr. Quamrun Nahar: Girls are mostly marrying men who are 9-10 years older than them. In terms of

education, however, the men are not more educated than the girls.

Wedding Busters screened

The question answer session was followed by screening of a Plan video titled “Wedding Busters”. The

video basically captures PIB’s work to stop child marriage, especially how children’s organisations and

Community Based Organisations are playing a central role in preventing child marriage. It can be

found here.

The Youth Speaks Five youth advocates from Plan’s working areas – Arjina Begum and

Keshob Roy from Nilphamari,

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Oly Ahmed and Tamanna Akhter Zinnat from Dhaka and Ruma Begum from Gazipur – shared

their experiences of stopping child marriages in their communities in the Child Marriage Free

Zones they live in and which they attributed to. Conducted by Tony Michael Gomes, Director,

Communications and Public Relations, the youths narrated what motivated them to get

involved with Plan’s programme, how have they been doing the extremely hard work of

persuading the people to refrain from child marriage, the odds they faced and the success

they achieved.

The youth advocates awarded

It started with Keshob Roy receiving the

Youth Courage Award for Education

from the UN Secretary General’s Special

Envoy for Global Education, Gordon

Brown, announced in July. Meher

Afroze Chumki, MP, State Minister,

Ministry of Women and Children Affairs

(MOWCA), handed over the award. The

other four advocates were also

recognised for their outstanding

contribution in preventing child marriage

and promoting education in their respective communities.

Expert panel discussion: the way to move forward

An expert panel discussion on child marriage drivers in Bangladesh and actions required to

end child marriage was held. Chaired by Elena Ahmed (Interim Country Director, Plan

International Bangladesh) with panellists: Dr. Ubaidur Rob, Country Director of Population

Council Bangladesh, Naved Ahmed Chowdhury, Poverty and Social Protection Adviser, DFID

and Professor Israt Sharmeen, President, Centre for Women and Child Studies.

Elena Ahmed started with calling

for a concerted effort to end child

marriage in Bangladesh. She

pointed out that as a result of the

inclusion of child marriage as an

indicator for the Post 2015

Development agenda, Bangladesh

has seen increased efforts directed

towards ending child marriage. She

also asserted the need to involve the

media in this effort and referred to The Daily Star’s initiative where the media leaders had

sought cooperation from the development organisations and civil society members to develop

media messages targeted towards changing people’s mindset around child marriage. She

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invited the panel members to discuss the key initiatives that could prevent child marriage in

Bangladesh and the commitments they would like to make towards ending child marriage.

Dr. Ubaidur Rob, Country Director of Population Council Bangladesh, thought education

was key and emphasised the need to support girls to complete higher secondary education as

well as expanding access to technical and vocational education and creating employment

opportunities for girls as a strategy to end child marriage. He drew attention to the disparity

between the different regions in terms of the child marriage rate and correlation between

social insecurity and child marriage. Prevalence of child marriage is higher in the southern

region of Bangladesh. This part of the country is also associated with a high incidence of child

trafficking, landlessness and separatists activities leading to social insecurity. It is likely that the

two are related. To make the best use of resources he recommended that efforts to end child

marriage should concentrate on these hotspots. He also commented that research on

interventions that proved effective in ending child marriage is woefully little. Although there is

evidence of effective interventions from other countries, it is not well known how those

interventions would work in Bangladesh. Dr Rob mentioned the recent Population Council

Bangladesh conducted randomized control trial study, Balika, to find out the effective

interventions in preventing child marriages in Bangladesh. He said he would share the

findings from this trial and hoped that it would help to come up with effective programming

to address child marriages. He committed to sharing PopCouncil’s resources on evidence to

end child marriage overall.

Naved Chowdhury, Poverty & Social Protection Advisor for DFID Bangladesh, shared

that involvement of men and boys in stopping child marriage in Bangladesh is pivotal. He

argued that girls get married at a younger age because there are men who want to marry

younger girls. So, greater efforts should be targeted at changing the mindset of boys and men.

Besides, interventions which promote girls’ agencies and self worth and help them to remain

in school are also equally important and so is keeping the cost of schooling affordable to

families e.g. stipend programme could be one solution. He cited the examples of EPI and

family planning campaigns in Bangladesh which were very successful in changing the mindset

of people. He suggested campaigns which use short but effective messages that can change

people’s mindset and behaviour are needed. On behalf of DFID, he committed to promote

programmes that would engage men and boys and support the existing platforms in

Bangladesh that worked for ending child marriage.

Professor Israt Sharmeen, President of the Centre for Women and Child Studies, called

for creating a safer social environment for girls. She argued that sexual harassment is one of

the causes of child marriage and thus such offenders need to be harshly punished to reduce

such behaviour and give girls a feeling of safety. She recommended entrusting the grassroots

organisations as the principal movers in the efforts to stop child marriage as they are the ones

that work very closely with the communities. With regard to girls’ education she pointed out

that waiving school fees are not enough because parents have to provide private tuition cost

that we often fail to factor in. As for behaviour change communication she cited the success of

Meena in changing mindsets. She also drew attention to the link between child marriage and

trafficking and highlighted the need to involve the law enforcement agencies. She

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recommended that there should be female police officers in the model police stations and they

should act as advocates for preventing child marriage. She committed to integrating the

prevention of child marriage to the trafficking prevention programme in Satkhira, where she is

involved in, including the school campaigns.

Photo stories on young mother screened

The next item was a 10-minute video screening where six photo stories on six young mothers

were narrated. Each story was described through six photos depicting the life of a young

mother, her struggles and despair but also her strength. Taken by Bernice Wong these have

also been put together in a publication called Age Matters in Marriage. Bernice is a freelance

photographer from Singapore who shared how the death of a newborn baby from birth

asphyxia touched her during her assignment.

Closing speeches

Argentina Pinto Matavel Piccin, Country Representative of UNFPA in Bangladesh,

applauded the young volunteers of Plan International Bangladesh for raising their voice and

working towards ending child marriage in their communities. She said that the practice of

child marriage is evidence that adults have failed our children. Child marriage prevents

children from realising their full potential and this culture should be changed. She highlighted

the role of civil society to push this message.

She was most emphatic with regard to expressing commitment. She informed that this year

UNFPA has decided to make child marriage the theme of their flagship report The State of the

World’s Population. Terming the child marriage situation in Bangladesh as a “national crisis”,

Piccin urged development partners to rally behind the cause. Pledging UNFPA’s commitment

on this she said, referring to the presence of UNICEF and UN Women’s Country

Representatives, that the UN is with fully behind this effort and called for others to join in

action.

Heather Cruden, High

Commissioner of Canada,

said she was inspired by the

young volunteers and their

passion to end child marriage

in their communities. She

stated that the studies on

child marriage in Bangladesh would help designing programmes to stop child marriage in the

country. She said although globally child marriage is declining it is not reducing fast enough.

Canada takes principal position on child protection, gender equality, women’s empowerment

and full participation of girls and women. Consideration for the unique vulnerabilities of

children has a key position in framing the foreign aid policy of Canada.

The High Commissioner asserted that without addressing protection and the security of girls

and women, it is not possible to achieve lasting improvement in health and development.

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Child marriage threatens the lives of girls and increases their risk to violence, malnutrition and

poor health. She emphasised that although changing a cultural norm may take years, we must

start now.

The Chief Guest of the event, Meher Afroze Chumki MP, State Minister, Ministry of

Women and Children Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh, said that child marriage is

a barrier to women’s empowerment, achieving gender equality and reducing maternal and

infant mortality rate in Bangladesh. It is not only a human rights violation but also a barrier to

development. Despite the existence of a law against child marriage, it is widely prevalent

especially in poor, rural and hard to reach areas. Chumki reiterated the Bangladesh

government’s commitment towards ending child marriage by citing measures such as a

stipend programme for girls, implementation of the adolescent reproductive health strategy,

school health programme, and adolescent friendly service centres etc. She opined that

community members and girls themselves are increasingly becoming more aware of the

negative consequences of child marriage. Chumki concluded by requesting NGOs and donors

to keep their support going and work in partnership with the government in ending child

marriage.

In his closing remarks, Mark Pierce, Asia Regional Director for Plan International,

thanked everyone for joining hands with Plan International Bangladesh to end child marriage

and for expressing solidarity in improving girls’ lives. He called attention to the fact that child

marriage is more than a social issue and is a major violation of human rights. During this event

some strategies have been highlighted by the research studies and the panel discussants, e.g.

girls’ education, changing legislation, birth registration and engaging young people, especially

men and boys. He believed that the way forward would be to look for ways to come together

and address child marriage in a coordinated manner.

The event ended with the youth volunteers’ appeal to the audience to keep their

commitments towards ending child marriage in Bangladesh with a Raise Your Hands in a show

of solidarity.