Bangladeshi Girls Under Threat Upon Legalized Underage Marriage Law

KHULNA DIVISION, BANGLADESH - MARCH 07: Meghla rocks her 2 month old baby on March 7, 2017 in Khulna division, Bangladesh. 17-year-old Meghla married her 30-year-old husband, Liton, during an arranged marriage in 2015, while she was 15. The marriage was against the Bangladesh law at the time so Meghla's father forged her birth certificate, so she would be old enough for the marriage to be officially registered. Two months ago, Meghla gave birth to a baby girl, the next generation to the line of underage marriages in her family. Meghla's mother had married when she was 16-years-old and her grandmother was married when she was age 14. ÒThe age difference is good because I'm young and he can help guide me in life. If a girl is more than 20 and unmarried then she and her family are sexually harassed. When a girl is out with her husband, men won't dare harass herÉ When a girl turns down a boys dating proposals he will gossip about her and destroy her reputation. No one bothers to investigate if the gossip is true or not. It creates a huge problem for the girl and her family. That's why girls marry early here,Ó Meghla said. Despite having a husband, several boys who used to harass Meghla continued and threatened to kidnap her. Meghla had dreamed of being an engineer but since the accidental pregnancy, she has doubts in even going to university after graduation. Despite Liton's encouragement for Meghla to pursue a university degree, she forgoes her dream to bear the responsibilities as a mother. The Bangladesh parliament approved a law last week that permits girls under age 18 to marry under Òspecial circumstances,Ó with permission from their parents and a court without a minimum age for these marriages. Human Rights Watch called the move a "devastating step backward for the fight against child marriage in Bangladesh" as the country has the highest rate of child marriage in Asia, and ranks one of the top in the world with 52 percent of the girls married before age 18, an
KHULNA DIVISION, BANGLADESH - MARCH 07: Meghla rocks her 2 month old baby on March 7, 2017 in Khulna division, Bangladesh. 17-year-old Meghla married her 30-year-old husband, Liton, during an arranged marriage in 2015, while she was 15. The marriage was against the Bangladesh law at the time so Meghla's father forged her birth certificate, so she would be old enough for the marriage to be officially registered. Two months ago, Meghla gave birth to a baby girl, the next generation to the line of underage marriages in her family. Meghla's mother had married when she was 16-years-old and her grandmother was married when she was age 14. ÒThe age difference is good because I'm young and he can help guide me in life. If a girl is more than 20 and unmarried then she and her family are sexually harassed. When a girl is out with her husband, men won't dare harass herÉ When a girl turns down a boys dating proposals he will gossip about her and destroy her reputation. No one bothers to investigate if the gossip is true or not. It creates a huge problem for the girl and her family. That's why girls marry early here,Ó Meghla said. Despite having a husband, several boys who used to harass Meghla continued and threatened to kidnap her. Meghla had dreamed of being an engineer but since the accidental pregnancy, she has doubts in even going to university after graduation. Despite Liton's encouragement for Meghla to pursue a university degree, she forgoes her dream to bear the responsibilities as a mother. The Bangladesh parliament approved a law last week that permits girls under age 18 to marry under Òspecial circumstances,Ó with permission from their parents and a court without a minimum age for these marriages. Human Rights Watch called the move a "devastating step backward for the fight against child marriage in Bangladesh" as the country has the highest rate of child marriage in Asia, and ranks one of the top in the world with 52 percent of the girls married before age 18, an
Bangladeshi Girls Under Threat Upon Legalized Underage Marriage Law
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