Age of marriage 18, but 16 with parental consent

The marriageable age of girls is remaining at 18, but with parental consent this can be lowered to 16. The government is considering this strategy after its decision to lower the age of marriage to 16 faced a volley of criticism.

The ministry for women and children's affairs has drafted a law in this regard. The draft of the Child Marriage Restraint Act has been sent to the law ministry for perusal. The draft states, if a 16-year-old woman marries with the consent of her parents or the court for justified reasons, then in this case she will not be considered to be underage or a minor.

The directive given by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 18 December regarding the draft law was that the age of marriage is 18, but will be acceptable at 16 with consent of the parents or the court. There will be less problems, she commented.

However, those involved in child and women's health as well as women and children's rights, do not agree with this stand of the government. Child specialist and national professor MR Khan told Prothom Alo, no one should marry before the age of 18. No one under 18 has the required maturity and judgement. One cannot vote before the age of 18. And unless one stands on one's own feet, one cannot even protest against any wrongdoings.

The draft sent to the law ministry on 12 January makes mention of the prime minister's directives. The draft states, a boy under the age of 21 and a girl under the age of 18 is considered to be a minor. However, if for justified reasons a woman marries at 16 years of age with consent of her parents or the court, she will not be considered a minor.

By signing the UN Convention on Child Rights and other similar conventions, and based on the laws and policies pertaining to children, the government has defined anyone below the age of 18 as a child. Responding to a question on whether, then, the new law is contradictory to this, state minister for women and children's affairs Meher Afroze Chumki told Prothom Alo, "We have reached a decision regarding age. The minimum age for marriage will be 18. But what will happen if anyone gets pregnant below the age of 18?" According to her, there must be considerations also for disabled women and other special cases too. In developed countries too there are such marriage provisions with parental consent. She said they have taken all factors into consideration regarding the law.

Salma Khan, former Chairperson of the UN Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and member of the executive committee of the NGO Women for Women, does not agree with the state minister. She said, it is not the government's function to marry a girl off to her rapist. Nowadays many rape victims demand justice. It is not longer like before when rape was unmentionable. The government has to have a clear law.

Shipa Hafiza, director of BRAC's Gender Justice and Diversity, said, it is for the government to ensure the safety of girls at that age. The government cannot shirk is responsibility. Just because theft happens, will the government say to keep you doors locked? And simply marrying off a girl because she is pregnant, won't solve the problem. It will increase the problem. If there is such a law, many parents will take advantage of it and marry their daughters off at an early age.

On 15 September last year, the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014 draft was approved, with an increased in penalty and fine. In this draft, the age of a minor was defined as below 21 in the case of boys and below 18 in the case of girls. In the same meeting, the prime minister instructed the law ministry and other concerned to look into whether or not the existing law of 1929 could be considered to set the minimum marriageable age for boys at 18 and for girls at 16.

When this news appeared in the media, it was met with a tirade of protests and criticism. The national human rights commission and various women and human rights organisations placed memoranda with the government and organised human chains, urging that such a decision not be taken.

Ayesha Khanam, President of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, told Prothom Alo, "The organisations involved in women's movement and the development partner organisations, from the very outset were in consensus that no such clause or sub-clause be added to the law that ill hamper the 18-year-old age for marriage. On the contrary, the age could be increased." She said that in order to stop child marriage, attention would have to be paid to safety, poverty elimination and other issues, and funds would have to be allocated for the purpose.

The Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2011 stated that 66% of the girls were getting married before the age of 16. By the age of 19, one in every three girls was either pregnant or giving birth to a child.

 At the Girl Summit jointly organised by UNICEF and the UK government in London on 21 to 23 July last year, prime minister Sheikh Hasina projected a target of completely stopping girls getting married below the age of 15 by the year 2021 and below 18 by the year 2041.