Ambiguity dogs proposed Child Marriage Restraint Act
Despite much debate and strong protests from different rights and civil society organisations, the ambiguity about the legal minimum marriageable age for females continues to prevail.
The law ministry recently vetted and returned to the women and children affairs ministry, the draft of the proposed Child Marriage Restraint Act-2014 which has a special provision stipulating that under special circumstances, marriage of 16-year-old girls to men above 21 years, with permission of parents or courts, would not be considered as “child marriage”.
However, the same law defined minimum legal marriageable age of girls as 18 years.
"Actually we are still discussing with the law ministry and talking with lawyers about what can be done about this provision," said State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki, in reply to a reporter's question at a roundtable on “Violence against women and children in the context of Bangladesh” held at Channel-i office in the capital yesterday.
However, Chumki mentioned that the provision can help tackle elopement and unwanted pregnancies.
The programme was organised jointly by Shaptahik magazine, Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), UKAID, and Matra.
The draft of the proposed act was approved at a cabinet meeting on September 15, 2014 and the law ministry was asked to give its opinion if the age limit could be reduced from 18 to 16.
As number of protests came up from different human, women rights and civil society organisations, ministers kept on assuring that the minimum age would remain at 18. However, they kept mum regarding the special provision.
Reacting to law ministry's consent about the provision, Samajik Protirodh Committee, a platform of 68 women, human rights and development organisations, and Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP) yesterday in two press statements said addition of such a provision to the law would be contradictory to the UN Convention on the Rights of Child which recognised everyone below 18 years as children. They reminded the government that Bangladesh is a member and signatory to the convention.
The existence of the provision would have negative impact on girls' health, empowerment, decision-making power, economic empowerment and also would increase risk of violence against women, they observed. Meanwhile at the roundtable, Shaheen Anam, executive director of MJF, stressed the need for valuing and recognising the unseen work including household chores done by women, so that the society learns to respect women for their contributions.
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