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Bangladesh: Report Documents the Consequences of Forced and Child Marriage
Thursday, July 16, 2015 4:50 PM
Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently published a report on the causes and consequences of child marriage in Bangladesh. Though Bangladeshi law prohibits girls under age 18 to marry, Bangladesh has the fourth highest rate of child marriage in the world. According to UNICEF, 65% of Bangladeshi girls marry before age 18. Factors that contribute to child marriage include poverty and financial strain as a result of natural disasters, such as river erosion and flooding, a lack of access to education, avoidance of paying a dowry, pressure from society, and complicity from law officials. Girls who marry young are more likely to be denied education, forced into early and risky pregnancy, and become victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence.
Compiled from: Daly, Emma, Witness: Regretting Marrying Off a Young Daughter –Ali’s Story, Human Rights Watch (June 9, 2015).
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