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November 21, 2004 

Who is a child in Bangladesh?

Rahim, an 8-year-old slum-dweller, has left school in search if a job, but he is not eligible for work as he is under 12. According to the Shop and Enterprise Act, anyone under the age of 12 is defined as a 'child'.

Masum, a resident of the same slum, goes to a neighbouring factory and finds that as per the Factory Act he will have to wait until he turns 16 to get work there. Rahim's friend Kamal gets upset when the local election is announced because he is not eligible to vote until he turns 18. He is a child until he reaches that age.

These people have one thing in common: none of them know when their childhood will end.

What does it mean by child in Bangladesh? Laws in Bangladesh differ in the definition. There is no single common legal definition for child although 18 has been set as the legal age limit of a child in the United Nations Child Rights Charter and most countries of the world follow this law.

The United Nations Child Rights Charter has tried to establish this age limit so that every state fulfils the rights of the children until that age. So what is the rationale behind having different age limits in different laws in this country?

According to the Bangladesh Penal Code, a child under the age of seven cannot be punished for an offence. The Shop and Enterprise Act 1965 defines everyone under the age of 12 as a child. As per the Factory Act 1965, it is unlawful for a child under 16 to work. According to the Child Act 1974, everyone under 16 is legally a child.

The Underage Marriage Prevention Act 1929 on the other hand sets two different age limits for girls and boys. For boys the minimum age is 21 and for girls the minimum age is 18. In the Bongiyo Bhoboghuray Act 1943, a person is considered to be a child until the age of 14. The Mine Act 1923 considers a person to be a child until the age of 15. Under the Basic Remuneration Act 1961, a person is a child until the age of 18. The Employment of Children Act 1938 considers anyone under the age of 15 to be a child. In the Motor Vehicle Act 1939, a person under the age of 18 is a child and is not allowed to drive a light vehicle and in the case of heavy vehicles, the person's age must be at least 20.

In the Child Labour Restriction Act 1933, anyone under the age of 15 is considered a child. In the Women and Children Oppression Prevention Act 2000, a person under 14 is deemed to be a child. According to the Adolescence Act, until a person reaches the age of 18 s/he is considered to be an adolescent. The Muslim Family Act of 1961 describes a person as a child until the age of 16.

A child has the right to know his/her legal age limit. In our society and culture, childhood is expected to end long before the age of 18. This points to the fact that we are not aware of a child's rights. It is the responsibility of the government to protect the rights of the children. It is the failure of the government to carry out its responsibilities that has left the children of this country defenceless. They have to look for work to survive. It is because of this failure that the child who should go to school now looks for work in shops, factories and houses.

"The government is encouraging child labour by setting different age limits for children in different acts," says Director of Bangladesh Child Rights Forum. He added, "Besides fixing the child's age limit, the government should also make birth registration compulsory. In our country it is difficult to prove the exact age of a child for lack of his or her birth certificate."

Lawmakers give their reasons for having different age limits in different acts.

Senior Advocate of the High Court Fariduddin Ahmed says, "Even under 18s sometimes carry out such serious offences that require punishment and a court case is necessary by law. And in a poor country like ours it is sometimes the bite of reality that forces a child under 18 to look for work. In that case a child would be deprived in absence of an appropriate law.

A person can avail of the opportunities of working even after the child age limit is set at 18, which is what happens in Western countries. Children there are allowed to work part-time and do light work. They are given a proper working environment. Although they do not work out of necessity, they do it to build themselves up for the future and get some pocket money. We can also set up correctional facilities for adolescent delinquents and set up a special court for adolescents."

Dr. Sumaiya Khair, Professor of Dhaka University's Law Department, adds, "If the age limit for a child is set at 18, we can allocate different jobs that are appropriate for children under that age."

Why is there such a difference between the legal marriage age of girls and boys?

Speaking about this difference, Prof Govinda Chandra Mondol of Dhaka University's Law Department says, "This age difference has been maintained by the law keeping social perspective in mind. In our society, if it is customary for the groom to be older than his bride as he is expected to be the bread-winner of the family." Prof Mondol adds, "It is not a problem to set the marriage age of a boy at 18, it has just been set at 21 because we do not encourage two people of the same age to get married in our culture."

If two 18-year-olds get married, the girl's father can file a case against the boy under the Underage Marriage Prevention Act. In this case, the boy will have to face a lot of harassment.

Bangladesh is not the only country where age limit creates problems. We can see the same image in many other countries of the world. Angela Melchiorre's research, 'At What Age' reveals that in 25 countries of the world there is no set age limit for compulsory primary education for children. In 33 countries, there is no minimum age for work and in 44 countries where girls are allowed to marry earlier than boys.

In at least 125 countries, 7 to 15-year-olds are taken to court for their offences and kept in dangerous prison conditions although this is the compulsory primary education age. In some countries while it is not even compulsory for 14/15-year-olds to go to school, in the same country another law allows children younger than that to work while 12-year-olds are allowed to get married and children as young as seven are punished for their crimes.

Bangladesh needs to define a set age for children so that they can enjoy their rights.

Source: NewsNetwork