Asia Child Marriage Initiative: Summary of Research in ... - ICRW

Afroza from Bangladesh is 17 years old. After delivering her first child,
she lost consciousness, only to wake up to more labour pains – the birth
of twins. Afroza is struggling to adapt to the demands of motherhood.
Plan / Bernice Wong
The length of a girl’s studies is a function of the family’s
economic circumstances, ease of access to schools and the
aspirations that she and her family have. While poverty is
generally a factor associated with early school dropout,
parents and children indicated that if a girl and her family
were determined, she would continue with her studies despite
strained financial circumstances. iv
Aspirations in turn are often a function of the exposure to possibilities and alternative roles for women.
There are a few cases where child brides are able to continue with their education after getting married
and sometimes even after having a child. This is possible if the girl herself has a strong desire to continue
her education and also has the support of her parents-in-law for doing so. Bangladesh seems to have a
higher prevalence of married girls and young mothers continuing with their education than the other two
countries. According to a recent study commissioned by Plan Bangladesh (ACPR et al 2012), 38 per cent
of women in urban areas and 20 per cent of women in rural areas continued their studies after getting
married. There was no evidence in the data to explain this difference and further research is required to
understand the issue.
“My father is educating me with hardship. My
mother is sick; in the midst of such a situation
they need to give me 50 taka every day [for
transportation]. My father is fulfilling my
dreams; I will also meet their needs after
getting established.”
(Unmarried girl above 18, Bangladesh)
“The eldest son of my eldest uncle is a
marketing officer; one of my brothers is in
the army. One of my sisters–in-law (the wife
of my brother) has studied a lot, she is also
a teacher. Each and every one of my father’s
family is very much educated. Only we are
illiterate. All of the relatives of my father’s
house always come and visit my family. They
always tell us not to get my daughter married
soon; rather they tell us to continue the
education of my daughter. They tell us that
will be a mistake if I get my daughter married
at an early age.”
(Mother of role model, Bangladesh)
Role of children in child marriage
A relatively less discussed and understood reason for child marriage that emerged is self-initiated marriages
by young girls (and boys). v According to one girl in Nepal, and her opinion was endorsed by many others,
the effect of education on marriage is nullified because girls in schools initiate their own marriages due to
“love” and “self-initiation”. There were reports from all three countries of girls under 18 choosing to get
married, with or without parental consent. Two factors that were seen as contributing to the increase in
self-initiated marriages were the increased inter-mingling of girls and boys in schools and the availability of
mobile phones. These developments in recent years have increased the ease of communication between
girls and boys and facilitated self-initiated marriages.
20 Child Marriage in Bangladesh, India and Nepal