Despite our efforts of curbing and criminalising child marriages, the practice continues. Here, we must point out yet again that the special provision to allow child marriages under special circumstances that has been added to the Child Marriage Restraint Act could undo the limited progress we had made to protect the rights of girls in this country, and give such marriages a legal sanction.

Child marriage will cost developing countries trillions of dollars in the next decade, seriously hampering global efforts to eradicate poverty, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

Jharna (not her real name), a 14-year-old girl living in Rayerbazar slum in Dhaka, fears that all her dreams may be dashed because of early marriage as she is from a community that expects girls to be married off and bear children even before they reach adulthood. Jharna, who is a child, doesn't want that.

Child marriage – despite the caveat in the new amendment of the law – remains illegal in the country. Last Friday, as eight under-age girls were about to be married off in Dinajpur, locals informed the local administration.

A recent move by the Government to allow child marriage under special circumstances is tantamount to excluding many Bangladeshis from the benefits of growth and development.

On the first day of April in 1930, a law came into force in the then Indian subcontinent restraining child marriage.

Much to the public's dismay, the parliament has passed the Child Marriage Restraint Act-2017 with a very significant proviso – special circumstances -- that allows a boy or a girl to get married before reaching the minimum age limit.

In Bangladesh child marriages is one of the most common phenomenon and the existing law in the country has failed to eliminate child marriage.

Child marriage is illegal in Nepal, yet the impoverished Himalayan nation has failed to put in place policies to curb the practice with almost 40 percent of girls married before the age of 18.

In reality, a village father does not care about Bangladesh's commitments at the Girl Summit 2014; he cares about his daughter, and his social standing. Integrally linked to this sense of honour are cultural ideas like virginity or purity.

According to UNICEF, 23,000 children would not have to die if women in the country did not give birth before the age of 20.

The news of marriage of an underage girl after coercion and torture, allegedly by a policeman, is deplorable.

You give dowry and I receive it, why are you bringing government into this?”said a woman in a village in Rangpur district during a discussion on women's status.

It is extremely disappointing that despite all the concerns expressed by activists and international organisations working for the rights of young girls...

Although the minimum marriageable age of girls will remain unchanged at 18, a rule of the proposed Child Marriage Restraint Act would allow girls, aged 16 to 18, to get married under special circumstances, with permission from courts or their parents.

The news of three people – a mother, stepfather and husband- being sent to jail for forcing a twelve-year-old girl into marriage...

The news of three people – a mother, stepfather and husband- being sent to jail for forcing a twelve-year-old girl into marriage...

The Daily Star report that around 2,500 students have dropped out of school in the last three years in Bogra's Dhunat upazilla, due to extreme poverty and child marriage...

The Child Bill 2013 is supposed to be in harmony with the CRC and recognises that an individual below 18 is a child. Why then do we still have child marriages? Why then do we have little children working in homes, in biri factories, in garbage dumps and tanneries?

A new draft law proposed by the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs recommends that although the minimum age for marriage for girls should remain 18, a special provision in the law will allow parents to marry off their daughters at 16 if there are justifiable reasons for doing so.