The Heterogeneous Lives of Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Urban Slums in Bangladesh

Abstract

Child marriage is defined as any marriage taking place before the age of 18 years (UNICEF 2018). Around 720 million women worldwide were married before they were 18 years old (UNICEF 2014), of which almost 50% were in South Asia (UNFPA and UNICEF 2016a), where 1 in 2 women marry under the age of 18 (Plan Asia Regional Office and ICRW 2013). Child marriage is a violation of human rights and a deep-rooted phenomenon that reflects the vulnerability of adolescent girls in society, as they are often treated as a financial liability for the family (UNICEF n.d.). Poverty and illiteracy are the main drivers of child marriage and, although it has declined in the last 30 years, child marriage is still one of the foremost risks to adolescent girls’ health and well-being (UNICEF n.d.). Adolescents represent almost 20% of Bangladesh’s total population, of whom 14.4 million are girls (Ainul et al. 2017). Bangladesh also has the highest prevalence of child marriage within South Asia (UNFPA and UNICEF 2016b) and fourth highest internationally (UNICEF 2016). In Bangladesh, child marriage is not considered, by most people, to be a form of sexual violence which negatively impacts the health of adolescent girls due to an increased risk of early pregnancy (UNICEF n.d.). Studies in rural and peri-urban Bangladesh have identified poverty, rigid social norms, lack of education and earning opportunities, higher dowry for older girls, and parental fear of sexual violence as causes of early marriage among girls (Plan Asia Regional Office and ICRW 2013; Mahmud and Amin 2006; Chowdhury 2004). However, there remains a dearth of knowledge regarding what drives early marriage in urban areas, especially slums. To address this, a large mixed-methods research study was conducted between 2015 and 2018, which aimed to understand the phenomenon of early marriage in urban slums, followed by an in-depth exploration of selected cases. Overall, the study found that: ● The dynamics of child marriage in urban slums are heavily influenced by the interplay of personal, socio-cultural and structural factors. ● Poverty and lack of education are major drivers of child marriage. ● Young girls from poor, broken families seek child marriage as a way out of poverty. ● Girls from supportive or influential families exhibited strong aspirations to study and work, despite setbacks such as early marriage or early pregnancy. ● A major and emerging cause of child marriage was romantic relationships between adolescent boys and girls. ● Parents’ decision-making around child marriage was driven by concerns over the safety and security of adolescent daughters, given the high prevalence of organised crime and sexual harassment in slums. ● The advent of the garment manufacturing industry has exponentially increased employment opportunities, especially for adolescent girls, as 80% of garment workers in Bangladesh are female (World Bank 2017).