Bangladesh has the second highest rate of child marriage in the world and has the world’s highest rate of marriage
involving girls under age 15 (UNICEF 2014). According to UNICEF’s 2011 State of the World’s Children Report,
about a third of women in Bangladesh aged 20 - 24 are married by the age of 15, and 66 percent of girls will marry
before their 18th birthday (UNICEF 2011). Most of the adolescent girls in Bangladesh lack adequate knowledge,
education, life skills, and livelihoods opportunities pertinent for the development of their lives. The situation is even
worse in the rural areas where poverty, lack of awareness places girls at high risk of child marriage and sexual violence.
Being married usually means taking on significant responsibilities in the marital home and thus a sudden change in
roles and responsibilities at the time of marriage. Young girls are forced to take on roles for which they are not
physically and emotionally ready. They are forced into sexual activities and child bearing starts soon after marriage.
Early marriage deprives young girls of opportunities for personal development their rights to full reproductive health
and well-being, education, and participation in civic life (Amin and Das 2012; Amin, Mahmud, and Huq 2002).