Teenage girls need more attention
Teenage brings a whole gamut of problems in girls that range from child marriage, sexual harassment to deprivation of education. According to the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey 2014, nearly a third of girls aged 15-19 are pregnant with their first child and nearly 60 percent girls get married before the age of 18. Early marriage remains a major social problem and a health hazard for girls who get pregnant at such a young age. The problems associated with teen pregnancy manifest themselves in many ways. It leads to maternal and child deaths, underweight babies. Many pregnancies occur due to poor knowledge of reproductive health. We see a very a large percentage of the female population drop out of the schooling system due to various factors, child marriage being a primary reason as well as sexual harassment. In a country where roughly half the population are female, this means the country is deprived of a large pool of future workers.
A joint roundtable of the UNFPA and The Daily Star has brought these issues to light and come up with some valuable suggestions. These include introducing student counsellors in secondary schools, being more proactive in preventing child marriages, showing zero tolerance for sexual harassment, providing teenaged girls with vocational training and engaging them in sports. Most of all, teenaged girls, who are at a very sensitive stage in life, must be treated with respect, caring and sympathy towards their needs. Effecting societal beliefs requires long-term engagement with parents and the education system to make sure our girls can acquire the confidence and skills to reach their full potential.
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