HRW urges Bangladesh to fight child marriage 'epidemic'
An international rights group has called on authorities in Bangladesh to take stringent measures to stop families from marrying off underage girls, saying child marriage has become an 'epidemic' in the country.
In a statement on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the number of child marriages remains high in the country.
It urged Bangladesh's government to shelve drop a plan to lower the legal age for marriage for girls from 18 to 16, arguing that the move would only exacerbate the dire situation.
Child marriage is commonplace throughout Bangladesh where nearly one third of the girl population is married before reaching the age of 15.
"It will send the message to the parents that child marriage is okay. The government should act before another generation of girls is lost," AFP quoted Heather Barr, author of a HRW report, as saying in Dhaka.
Barr also urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to "follow through" on her promises at a global summit last year in London on the issue to ban marriage for girls as young as 10.
The report, based on some 100 interviews, said girls had been denied education and their health threatened because their bodies were immature for marriage.
UN children's fund UNICEF regards child marriage as a violation of human rights.
A recent UINCEF report said early marriages are “compromising the development of girls and often resulting in early pregnancy and social isolation, with little education and poor vocational training reinforcing the gendered nature of poverty."
According to UNICEF estimates, over 64 million women aged 20–24 years have in recent years been victims of child marriage in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, most often from poor households.
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