Regeringen i Bangladesh, som gennem årene har modtaget milliarder i dansk udviklingsbistand, vil sænke lavalderen for at blive gift, men samtidig hæve straframmen for overtrædelser af de nye foreslåede bestemmelser drastisk – forslaget ventes at blive vedtaget.
The proposals are in a bill likely to be approved by parliament. It is suggested that the marriageable age for men be reduced from 21 to 18 and for women from 18 to 16, writes BBC online Monday.
The maximum penalty for breaking the law will be increased from two months in jail to two years. The fine, currently 130 US dollar (ca. 740 DKR) will go up five-fold. Women will not be sentenced to a prison term.
Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with 20 per cent of girls becoming wives before their 15th birthday.
Aid agencies have described the practice as a “new kind of slavery”, made worse by the fact that some in the country see girls as a burden who do not earn an income.
This attitude means they are totally dependent on their families to support, protect them and pay their dowries (medgift).
Current trends indicate that more than 140 million girls will be married as children by 2020. Girls from the poorest 20 per cent of households are more than three times more likely to marry before they are 18 than those from the richest homes, notes BBC.
