Bangladesh: Marriage age to remain as before In face of controversy, the government has decided to leave the minimum age of marriage as before, 18 for girls and 21 for boys. Also, a mobile court is being introduced for the visible and speedy trial for the crime of child marriage. At the cabinet meeting on 15 September it had been discussed whether it would be possible to lower the minimum age of marriage to 16 for girls and 18 for boys. The Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014 was also approved. When the matter was reported in the media, the ministry of women and children affairs came under an avalanche of criticism. In the meantime, the intentional human rights organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) has appealed to the government not to lower the minimum age of marriage. Lowering the age of marriage, they feel, would be a contradiction to the pledge to bring down the rate of child marriage. Many quarters pointed out that the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014 would be contradictory to the Child Policy 2013. The UN Childrens Rights Convention declares that anyone under 18 years of age will be considered a child.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 10:30:03 +0000
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