The eventful year of 2021 witnessed an alarming surge in violence against women and child marriage. A large number of child marriages took place in the country amid the pandemic because of the economic hardship faced by the low-income people coupled with the closure of schools. Based on the news published in 13 national dailies, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad recently said that child marriage has increased by 238 percent in 2021 a compared to the previous year.
In order to prevent child marriages parents and marriage registers involved should be awarded exemplary punishment. When girls get married during childhood, they get pregnant quicker than women who marry at older ages. Although the country has witnessed a surge in child marriage amid the pandemic, the tendency of the society to see girls’ only job is to get married and produce children is the main reason for such increase, be it before or amid the pandemic.
The government should launch
country-wide awareness campaign
in order to prevent child marriage
Therefore, this horrific crime needs to be stopped with immediate effect. Child marriage does not only harmfully affect our society but also deprives those unfortunates of educational and work opportunities.
We all have to accept that child marriages have seen a significant rise amid the pandemic. Till we accept the reality, we will not be able to address this problem, take the right measures, and protect our girls from being sufferers of this vicious crime. By providing financial aids and security measures for those needy families, The government can curb the rate of child marriages as they will be convinced not to give to those underage girls in marriage.
Read more: Community engagement must for ending child marriage
Last but not least, the government should launch country-wide awareness campaign in order to prevent child marriage.
