Peer-reviewed article
Perception of Child Marriage of Secondary School Girls in Bangladesh
Md. Anamul Hoque, Jannatul Ferdouse ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines how secondary school girls in Bangladesh perceive child marriage, a practice affecting 38% of girls before age 15 and 51% before age 18 in the country. The research identifies poverty, parental ignorance about consequences, limited access to sexual and reproductive health services, and social norms as key drivers of child marriage in rural areas and urban slums. The study aims to provide recommendations for strengthening community action and girls' resilience to prevent child marriage. Bangladesh law sets the legal minimum marriage age at 18 for girls and 21 for boys.
Key points
- 38% of adolescent girls in Bangladesh are married before age 15; 51% before age 18
- Poverty and parental ignorance about consequences are main drivers of child marriage
- Limited access to sexual and reproductive health services contributes to the practice
- Prevailing social norms around marriage perpetuate the practice
- Child marriage occurs particularly in rural areas and urban slums despite legal minimum age of 18 for girls
Limitations
The document provides background and context but does not describe the study's actual methods, sample size, findings from the girls' perceptions, or specific recommendations. It is unclear whether this is a complete abstract or a partial excerpt.
Abstract
Child marriage is a worldwide priority issue as ending child marriage by 2023 is a target embedded in the Sustainability Development Goal (SDG). The child marriage practice is going on around the world. Based on the latest data 21% of young women were married as children. In Bangladesh, 38% of adolescent girls are married before the age of 15, and 51% of young women are married before their 18th birthday. Since research on this particular issue is very scanty, this study aims to explain the perception of Secondary School girls about child marriage and provide practice-based recommendations for strengthening the community especially girls to prevent it. According to the law of Bangladesh, the minimum age of marriage for girls is 18 years and for boys is 21 years . Any marriage before these ages can be treated as child marriage. In practice, child marriage is happening in Bangladesh, particularly in urban slums and rural areas. The studies show poverty and ignorance of the parents/ guardians about the consequence of child marriage, less access to sexual & reproductive health services, and prevailing social norms of marriage are the main reasons for child marriage .