Recurring Child Marriage & Adolescent Pregnancy: A Post-pandemic Social Tragedy
It is rather upsetting that Bangladesh continues to perform poorly in a lot of social measures, including health and education for girls, despite all of our economic advancement and showy infrastructure developments. According to a recent report, Bangladesh has a 27.7% teen pregnancy rate in the years 2017–18. This was the highest rate of adolescent pregnancy in the entire South Asian region, as per the report. In India (DHS 2019–2021), Pakistan (DHS 2017–2018), and Afghanistan (DHS 2019–2021), the rates were 6.8%, 8.1, and 12.1%, respectively (DHS 2015).
Additionally, a recent study found that Bangladesh is still unable to combat the child marriage threat, which continues to afflict our society. We discovered earlier this week that between January and August 2022, up to 2,301 girls were victims of child marriage in 28 districts, according to a report by the National Girl Child Advocacy Forum. This indicates that in just those districts, 288 females under the age of 18 were married off on average each month.
While the unusually high prevalence of adolescent pregnancies in Bangladesh may surprise some people, the causes are well-known and include, among other things, child marriage, improper contraceptive usage, a lack of access to knowledge about sexual and reproductive health, and prevailing gender stereotypes. The largest offender among them is child marriage, which illustrates how one bad thing, if allowed unchecked, leads to another awful thing.
A Prothom Alo article that used data from the Tala upazila of Satkhira, Khulna, further clarified the difficulties in combating child marriages. Of the 88 child marriages that were stopped between July 2021 and June 2022, the Women’s Affairs Office in Tala reports that 74% later took place in secret. In addition, one child bride suffered domestic abuse at the hands of her in-laws who were demanding money in six of those weddings, which is worrisome. According to the poll conducted by the Women Affairs Office, pupils in grades 7 through 10 were the most susceptible to child marriage.
It is important to note that this information is based on a demographic and health survey that was carried out prior to the epidemic. Given how heedless child marriage has surged over the last two to three years, the issue is most likely worse presently. Data acquired by this newspaper from several areas shows that between March 17, 2020, and September 12, 2021, at least 11,000 schoolchildren were married off by their families. In 28 districts across the nation, as many as 2,301 girls were victims of early marriage between January and August 2022, according to a more recent report by the National Girl Child Advocacy Forum.
Early marriage is becoming more popular, which will inevitably lead to an increase in adolescent pregnancies, which are risky and complicated. If a child bride was discovered to have any control over her reproductive health, it would be an extremely exceptional circumstance. The young girl’s in-laws are typically the ones that pressurise her into getting pregnant and restrict any form of birth control. The severe health problems that an adolescent girl may experience during pregnancy or childbirth, such as eclampsia, postpartum haemorrhage, systemic infections, preterm deliveries, low birth weight, and neonatal deaths, are not just the responsibility of the families but also of the authorities (local and national).
When parents get a proposal that looks “too good to refuse,” they frequently marry off their young daughters. But in doing so, they inevitably ruin or jeopardise their child’s chances for a successful life and the future. It is past time for the government to crack down on Bangladesh’s practice of underage marriage. Along with offering financial stability and spreading awareness to combat this evil, the relevant government authorities must constantly be vigilant to prevent covert interrupted weddings. But most crucially, the government cannot complete a mission this difficult on its own. To permanently eradicate this evil, the entire society must come together.
Source:
- 74% of prevented child marriages take place again secretly; (Prothom Alo, 6 Oct. 2022)
- From early marriage to risky pregnancy: We must break the cycle; (The Daily Star, 10 Nov. 2022)
