Untying the knot: Child marriage in Bangladesh

It is September and a large red marquee has been erected in the district of Parbatipur, Bangladesh. Inside, a small figure in a red dupatta is being prepared for her wedding to a man who is 30 years her senior.

Jolena, 14, will shortly join the estimated 58.6% of Bangladeshi women and girls who become 'child brides', married before the age of 18.

Thankfully, this is only a performance. The marquee is the setting for a piece designed to raise awareness of the risks of early, forced child marriage through a partnership between VSO and Theatre for a Change. 'Jolena' is played by a member of the community trained in using Interactive Theatre for Justice, to help start a discussion on locally-important issues.

Jolena becomes pregnant and is in a dire situation.

She turns to the audience for help, asking what they can do to help her. In no time, members of the audience jump up shouting for the husband to be arrested and for Jolena to be taken to hospital. The local chief of police present at the performance is able to 'intervene' at the audience's request.

Tonight's audience will ensure that Jolena's story turns out differently to that of her peers.

A marriage of convenience

For large parts of South Asia, poverty can mean that there are limited resources to feed and educate girls.

Dowry, where a bride's family pays a significant amount to the groom is also usually lower for younger girls.

Younger brides are considered more obedient and families believe marrying girls can protect them from sexual violence. Human Rights Watch said, “Desperate poverty remains a daily reality for many families in Bangladesh, and many parents see child marriage as their best option to safeguard the future of a daughter they feel they can neither feed nor educate nor protect.”

Social and cultural factors also play a part.

Unmarried girls who have gone through puberty can be teased or gossiped about or families in small, conservative communities.

Girls give up the opportunity for an education to ease pressure on the rest of the family.

Suborna,15, from Chakrakhali in south Bangladesh studied until year eight. She dreamt of continuing her education, but her family struggled with financially supporting two girls.

"No one physically forced me to get married but I was mentally pressured. I love my family and care about all of them. I had always dreamed of doing something for them, but not marriage! I thought of my parent’s depressed faces and my cherished sister and decided that if I get married it would give my father more of a chance to support my sister’s educational expenses. I gave up all of my dreams for my family, for my sister, in the hope that she could find a beautiful different life."

The challenges of marrying too young

But in 2017, a new and controversial law allows marriage below the legal age for ‘special circumstances' or when it serves the ‘best interests’ of the adolescent. If parents or guardians are in favour, the legal marriage age can be subverted.

On a range of other metrics, Bangladesh has been celebrated for its progressiveness, having successfully closed the gender gap in primary education and reduced the rate of infant deaths by over half in under thirty years.

On early marriage too there has been progress with the number of girls married under 18 declining from 62% to 52% between 2000 and 2017. Now women's rights organisations and activists and fear the change in law could undermine all that.

Many girls themselves are fighting to make sure that doesn't happen.

Girls fighting for more

Habiba Akhter,18, is a mobile phone technician at a youth club set up by VSO. She services and repairs electronics thanks to vocational training she received, and now earns close to 4000 Taka (£33) a month. 

She's putting the money going towards her education. It's giving her an independence many girls lack: 

“Many families don’t want their daughters to have an education. Without the income from phone repairs it would be very hard for my family to pay for my education.” 

Habiba has seen what others go through. Her classmate left school to marry at 13, and died following complications when she fell pregnant: 

It’s not a problem that women and girls often talk about, but this is changing. People are starting to think about the associated health problems

Habiba Akhter

A gender issue 

Early marriage is a huge problem, and it is gendered.  

As the Guardian puts it, "Child marriage happens for many reasons: poverty, fears about girls' safety, a perceived lack of other options. But, ultimately, it happens to girls because they are girls." 

Work on child marriage needs to reach beyond access to schools and campaigning for equality.  

The much harder work of building safe and equitable spaces for girls in education and creating support in communities for girls at school must start now. 

And there is hope.   

Rukhsana, 15, (name changed), was married to a man who was 22. The first few years were tough. "all I can remember of the early years of my marriage is cooking, washing, cleaning and doing other chores all the time. But I was quite lucky. I got a very caring and considerate person as my husband and my in-laws were quite supportive to me,” she says.   

However, she had to give up on her volleyball playing dreams, (she won a national championship in 1997). She is eager to not let history repeat itself, saying:

“Child marriage is a social curse and it needs to be stopped by any means. I will never let my daughters to be a victim of child marriage.” 

Speaking up with theatre  

Community workers are taking new and unconventional approaches to raising awareness of the effects of early child marriages.  

Theatre for a Change is a non-profit using the performing arts to tell the stories of vulnerable and marginalised people.  

In partnership, VSO and Theatre for a Change have piloted a new project that uses Interactive Theatre for Justice to raise awareness of the risks of early forced child marriage and its consequences. 

In September 2017, the project brought together 17 youth club leaders from across the country and provided training in Dhaka, Bangladesh in interactive theatre skills and techniques in drama.  

It resulted in the performance at Parbatipur that depicted the story of Jolena. Sessions like these allow young people to craft narratives about child marriage that are localised, specific and empowering.  

They provide an alternative perspective to communities, forcing them to confront opposing arguments to centuries-old traditions.  

Standing up against early, forced marriage  

Bangladesh remains at the forefront of having a long and hard struggle with child marriage ahead, but it is certainly not alone.  

In Uganda, girls who would otherwise be sold into marriage are being encouraged to stay in school by VSO volunteers and in Nepal, community-led 'sisters' are advocating for younger girls to have the educations they deserve.  

Around the world, the incidence of early child marriage is holding girls back from completing school.  

It is forcing them into marriages and lives they are unequipped to handle. Schooling provides girls with crucial information about healthcare. It prepares them for careers and perhaps most importantly builds their self-esteem and dreams.  We must support them to seek out new opportunities and break the cycle that keeps them in poverty.