Ending child marriage

A new draft law proposed by the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs recommends that although the minimum age for marriage for girls should remain 18, a special provision in the law will allow parents to marry off their daughters at 16 if there are justifiable reasons for doing so. But what constitutes a justifiable reason and who gets to decide that is not clear. Despite widespread criticisms by women's rights groups that this sub-clause can be misinterpreted and misused, the Ministry has cited elopement and pregnancy in minor girls as reasons for retaining this provision. However, a recent research conducted by Manusher Jonno Foundation reveals that of 1,237 households with girls who were under the age of 18 and married off in the last one year, 5.79 percent had love marriages with parental consent and only 1.5 percent eloped or engaged in premarital relations. These low numbers clearly contradict the government's reasoning.

The study also reveals that an overwhelming majority of parents think the suitable age for girls' marriage is 14 or 15. Parents marry off their daughters at a young age because of a range of complex socio-economic factors, including poverty, social insecurity and threat of sexual violence against young girls, patriarchal values that make girls under 16 more desirable to grooms, and the fact that the amount of dowry is directly proportional to a girl's age. 

The government needs to address these underlying causes at the grassroots level and ensure that existing laws on child marriage are implemented. Enactment of the law as proposed will only open up the possibility of abuse of the law, and encourage more people to marry off their daughters at even younger ages.