Child marriage in pandemic: A scourge returns on tiptoe
"School closures, isolation from friends and support networks, and rising poverty place girls at heightened risk of child marriage."
"We now have to envision more ways to resist child marriages. We have to bring the victims back to school."
She wanted to be a teacher one day and was studying hard to reach that goal. But that dream, she feels, has just slipped away.
At only 16, Sultana (not her real name) was married off by her parents a few months after the Covid-induced school shutdown came into effect.
"I used to enjoy school. I was a good student and liked studying. But I got married, and since I am young, I couldn't fight my parents and get out of it.
"I'm still getting used to being married. I just try to do everything I am told to do so that I don't get into trouble."
Sultana is just one of the thousands of children whose dream of an independent future was nipped in the bud over the past year and half.
According to international researches, almost 2.5 million child marriages took place across the world during the pandemic.
In Bangladesh, at least 11,000 school children were married off by their families between March 17, 2020, and September 12 this year, according to data The Daily Star gathered from different districts.
This means all these children are victims of what is now a crime as per the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017, which stipulates that girls must be aged at least 18 to be eligible for marriage and boys 21.
The grim picture unfurled when schools across the country reopened on September 12, after around a year and half, and teachers noticed many of their students did not return to their classrooms.
In March, Unicef published a report "COVID-19: A Threat to Progress against Child Marriage", which warned that school closures, economic stress, service disruptions, pregnancy, and parental deaths due to the pandemic are putting the most vulnerable girls at increased risk of child marriage.
"Despite significant progress in recent years, Bangladesh has the fourth highest prevalence of child marriage in the world. Covid-19 compounds the difficulties facing millions of girls. School closures, isolation from friends and support networks, and rising poverty place girls at heightened risk of child marriage," said Tomoo Hozumi, Unicef representative in Bangladesh.
Experts said though the country made substantial strides in curbing child marriage in recent years, policymakers were caught unawares by the sudden global pandemic and failed to grasp the adverse impact it could have on the fight against child marriage.
They think the government now needs to take aggressive measures to ensure children who were married off during the pandemic could come back to schools.
SHOCKING NUMBERS
The Daily Star collated information from 41 upazilas of 13 districts and found around 10,741 girls and at least two boys were illegally married off during school closures. The exact number, however, could be much higher if a proper survey is done.
Khulna is one of the districts where a huge number of underage girls were made child brides.
Authorities of Belphulia Islamia High School in the district's Rupsha upazila said that at least 70 students -- all aged between 14 and 17 -- have been married off during the lockdown.
Md Moniruzzaman, headmaster of the school, told The Daily Star that when they contacted the students' families, they said the girls were now married and would not continue with their education.
"In fact, these marriages were arranged by stealth. I am still learning about new child marriages. I am trying my best to bring these students back to school," he added.
According to Khulna District Education Office (DEO), around 3,000 students from 420 secondary schools and 125 madrasas became victims of child marriage during the pandemic.
Speaking to The Daily Star, one victim's father said, "I could no longer bear the expense of my daughter's education as I lost my job during the pandemic."
In Bagerhat, the number of victims exceeds that of Khulna.
As per the report prepared by District Education Officer Md Kamruzzaman, 3,178 child marriages took place in the district during school closures.
Satkhira's DEO said they have so far come to know about 500 child marriages that took place during this period. However, unofficial sources said the number could be as high as 5,000.
Almost all 177 schools of Kaliganj upazila in Satkhira have students who are now victims of child marriage.
"At least 25 girls of grade 10 at my school were married off," said Shampa Goswami, a teacher from Mozaher Memorial High School.
She had conducted a survey across 35 schools on behalf of Prerona Nari Unnyan Sangathan, a non-government organisation working to prevent child marriage, and found that at least 20 to 30 girls from each school were married off.
At least 50 girls of Alipur Girls' High School in Satkhira Sadar upazila were such victims.
Shakibur Rahman Babla, administrative officer of Satkhira's Child Marriage Resistance Committee, said that according to their list, over 3,000 children were illegally wedded.
Sharmeen Nilormi, a researcher on climate-vulnerable women and girls, said many of the victims were from southern climate-vulnerable districts as there are many destitute people in those areas and there is a deep-rooted link between poverty and child marriage.
"But the case is not the same in all regions. So, we need more research to understand the factors behind this sudden surge in child marriage … Over the last few years, the government has invested so much in girls' education. So, it is necessary to find the root causes to take up a proper policy to curb child marriage."
Besides the southern districts, Tangail saw a spike in child marriages. As per data from the district's secondary education office, 1,242 students, including two boys, of 12 upazilas became victims of child marriage during the pandemic.
"We did not know about it due to the school closure and there was no guideline for any monitoring in this regard," said Firoz Al Mamun, assistant headmaster of the Geramara Gohailbari Sabuj Sena High School in Mirzapur, who confirmed that at least 41 of his students were married off.
In Chapainawabganj, 439 students were married off, and the number is 417 in Dinajpur's Nawabganj upazila.
At least 29 students from a single school in Pabna and 31 from one school in Narayanganj were married off.
Also, 35 in Munshiganj, 178 in Barishal, some 700 in Rajshahi, 45 in Mymensingh, 500 in Kurigram and 500 in Natore fell prey to child marriage, respective DEOs said, adding that the numbers could be way higher.
In two schools, one in Kurigram and one in Pabna, all the girls except one of a single class, were married off.
"Before closure, there were 30 students in grade 10, who were going to sit for SSC exams this year. Unfortunately, 29 of them were married off," said Moslem Uddin, Pabna's district education officer.
Shamim Al Mamum, headmaster of a Tangail school, said, "Sometimes teachers could help stop such marriages, but due to a long break in communication between teachers and students during the school closures, we could not do much."
LAW GLOSSED OVER
Salma Ali, president of the National Woman Lawyers' Association, said, "We have a certain law [the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017] to curb child marriages, but there is no strict enforcement. The government also does not have any proper monitoring mechanisms to prevent child marriage."
Section 9 of the child marriage prevention law also states that if any person solemnises or conducts a child marriage, it shall be an offence for which they shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of two years, and a minimum of six months, or with a fine of maximum Tk 50,000 or with both.
And in default of payment of fine, they will be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three months, it mentions.
More often than not, these marriages take place in kazi offices. Legally speaking, kazis are the "nikah registrar", appointed by the government.
Kazi Selim Reza from Moghbazar kazi office told The Daily Star that the government has formulated a law, but many kazis tend to ignore the law as there is a lack of enforcement.
"And in most cases, parents come up with fake birth certificates from notary publics to marry off their children. The government needs to take action against them in this regard."
HEALTH IMPACT
According to the International Council of Research on Women (ICRW), children who are married off with low levels of education are at higher risk of domestic and/or sexual violence, which can have lasting psychological implications.
As most of the girl children are married off to older men and there is an imbalance of power, they may describe their first sexual experience as forced.
Unicef's report stated that child marriage increases the risk of early and unplanned pregnancy, in turn increasing the risk of maternal complications and mortality.
Dr Andrew Rozario, a psychologist based in Dhaka, said, "Through the ages of 14 to 18, children go through many changes -- both psychologically and physically. Their minds and bodies are not prepared for the kinds of responsibilities that come with marriage.
"What happens when a child gets married is that, first and foremost, their minds and bodies face confusion. They have to face pressure and carry out tasks that they are not prepared for in any way, which results in long term psychological and physiological traumas."
According to a 2020 survey by Manusher Jonno Foundation, in collaboration with UNFPA, Unicef and Plan International, 13,886 girls were married off in 84 upazilas in 21 districts.
But things look even bleaker now.
Kashfia Feroz, director of Girls Rights, Plan International, said, "Nobody could predict this Covid-19 pandemic situation. So, there was no preparation for this [child marriages during the pandemic] by the government.
"We now have to envision more ways to resist child marriages. We have to bring the victims back to school."
(Our correspondents from Tangail, Lalmonirhat, Khulna, Chapainawabganj, Bagerhat, Dinajpur, Pabna, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Barishal, Rajshahi, Mymensingh and Natore contributed to this report.)
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