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3. Review of Bangladesh Culture and Society
Bangladesh’s socio-cultural environment contains pervasive gender discrimination. Therefore, girls and women face many obstacles to their
development Noorani, 2010. It can be seen even in their childhood, where girls and boys are treated differently. Girls are fed last and less than their brothers.
Girls just only an object to be a burden to their family when later on they want to marry off their child.
3.1. Child Marriage
Child marriage or early marriage of girls is a very common thing in Bangladesh. Many children, especially girls are married in their young age. Many
girls before age 18 were married despites 18 being the legal age of marriage. According to Onneshan 2011, early marriage is one of the vital barriers to
women’s and girls’ education, health and employment. It also limits the young women to access the education as cited in Gender Equality in Bangladesh, 2011.
In marrying their children, parents from bride’s family should pay a dowry to
groom’s family. Dowry is the first step and also a symbol if parents want to marry their child. According to Odhikar 2013, pp. 121-122
In Bangladesh, dowry related violence is considered to be root cause of domestic violence. Women are treated as [a] burden in mainly poor, rural families and thus
many parents try to marry off their daughters by giving dowry. Poverty and lack of security contribute to stop a girl’s education at the primary or secondary level.
As a result, she is unable to become self sufficient. Parents, however, save money for giving dowry for their daughters’ marriages. However, the demand for dowry
does not end at the marriage ceremony. According to the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980, giving and taking dowry is a punishable offence and according to the
section 11 Ka, Kha and Ga of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000 Amended in 2003 the punishments to such crimes have
been mentioned.
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