Dipu Akter
Member of Fédération Européenne de Psychanalyse et Ecole Psychanalytique de Strasbourg (FEDEPSY), France.
According to the existing law of Bangladesh, to get married, women need to reach at her age 18, and for men, it is 21. On 27th January the Parliament of Bangladesh has passed a review of this law. This recent version of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2016 contains a provision that would allow child marriage in ‘special cases’ (such as accidental or illegal pregnancy, or where a marriage would protect a girl’s honor*) without specifying a minimum age. The ‘special cases’ provision will now justify child marriages under the legal framework.
( * News sources: Girls not Bride, news link, http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/do-not-allow-child-marriage-under-special-circumstances-girlsnotbrides-bangladesh/
Dhaka Tribune, news link, http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/11/24/child-marriage-restraint-act-2016-gets-final-nod/)!
In the mean time, 22 march 2017, within two months of this amendment, the first child marriage has taken place under this ‘special circumstance’ in Chittagong city. A child girl who had been lured by a culprit for sexual contact (which was in point of fact a rape) and conceived, got married off to her rapist by her family, within the approval of the court under the framework of the recent amendment of child marriage act 2016.
(* News source Jagoronia on 23 March 2017, news link, http://bangla.jagoroniya.com/bangladesh/6926/)
My concern is, what sort of security or honor will serve this marriage for this unfortunate girl or her family or her baby? Are her family and involved figures aware of the shortcoming concerning of this marriage under the provision of ‘special cases’?
Marriage is a social institution that unites people by founding and maintaining a family. It’s a room where an individual supposed to find a sense of self-fulfillment. Marriage has a broader purpose as well. It is a space where our future generation has been nurtured, which ensure the continuation of humankind.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 1948 says, men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. As marriage is a legal, social and religious arrangement between a woman and a man, what’s wrong when this arrangement take place during early age?
We know all societies have age limits to get the right to vote, driving licenses, as well as to get married. There are reasons behind that age standard. This age standard refers to the attainment of minimum maturity, sense of responsibility towards other and self as well.
Founding family is a serious responsibility – once someone enters into this social system, he/she has to take many responsibilities regarding this union. It requires a certain level of logical capacity, maturity; age is one indicator to reach this stage.
The perpetrator, who manipulated that girl for sexual purposes without considering her age, or any further consequence would be willing to take any responsibility? Are that girl and her baby safe with this culprit in the home?
To allure, manipulate anybody for their own gratification isn’t a single phenomenon in someone’s psychological trait. Who commits such kind of offense, transgress their limit has would-be involved many other crimes. It’s a symptom that he don’t have a conscience, don’t care about other life, other are just an object for them. It’s a severe pathology without having any possibilities to change into a better version. This marriage (that I mentioned earlier) in special circumstance will push both the child mother and her baby into a more vulnerable state.
In our socio-cultural context girls used to get married earlier because they are expendable, they are at risk of losing her virginity, or conceive any unwanted child; so the sooner they become someone else’s responsibility, the better.
Birth, marriage, and death are key events in most people’s lives. But only marriage is a matter of choice among these three. The right to exercise that choice was recognized as a principle of law even in Roman times. Yet many are entering into marriage without any possibility of exercising their right to choose. They may have given ‘consent’ in the eyes of the law, but this consent serves nothing when one partner is immature in age. Some are forced to do so, others are simply too young to make a matured decision.
Considering our socio-cultural context, it is not so difficult to presume that most of the time the context of ‘special cases’ would be the same. Whatever the reasons are, in the name of defending family honor, this practice should be stopped. Because of the ground of human rights injustices, because it is a matter of their rights to future, because this practice of special cases to protect so-called honor will put the mother and her baby in more danger.