Mobilising against child marriage in Rohingya communities

Above: A Community-Based Child Protection Committee meeting taking place in Camp 21, Cox’s Bazar. Photo: Farzana Parvin/FIVDB

Early marriage significantly harms the social and physical wellbeing of girls, ending their education, putting them as risk of early pregnancy and its many complications, increasing their risk of rape and gender-based violence, psychological trauma and social isolation. It entraps girls, and their families, in an intergenerational cycle of poverty.

Yet, in some communities it is still seen as socially acceptable, or in situations of extreme poverty, as a coping mechanism to reduce financial responsibilities or to access dowries.

Displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh are particularly susceptible to child marriage, as long-term displacement, uncertainty, deep poverty, gender norms and a lack of education and livelihoods opportunities for women and girls intersect, putting pressure on families.

Through the AHP response in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Community-Based Child Protection Committees (CBCPCs) have an end to child marriage in their sights, while also addressing other protection issues such as child labour, polygamy, trafficking and abuse.  

Sajeda, a Rohingya mother of four girls, knows the risks of child marriage all too well: she herself was a child bride. As an active member of the CBCPC in her camp, Sajeda has spoken to around 200 people in her community on the harmful effects of child marriage, as well as other child protection issues, and the importance of education for girls.  

Above: Sajeda speaks with other women in her community about child protection issues. Photo: Farzana Parvin/FIVDB

Sajeda has also made a personal commitment to not allow any of her daughters to get married before they reach the age of 18.

“I am a victim of child marriage,” Sajeda said. “When I was in Myanmar, I observed huge problems occurring due to child marriage in our community. Some girls became pregnant at early ages, some of them had husbands leave them and become abandoned by their communities.”

Each CBCPC, formed by local NGO Friends in Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB) with the support of Plan International Bangladesh through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership, is comprised of 15 community members, and aims to create a protective and violence-free environment for children.

After joining the CBCPC, Sajeda learned about child marriage, child protection issues, signs of child abuse, child marriage, girls’ education, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and trafficking. This information fueled her passion for advocacy and she has been directly involved in trying to prevent child marriages in her community.

After hearing about a recent planned child marriage, Sajeda mobilised CBCPC members to visit the family involved. The CBCPC members met with the parents and shared information about the negative impacts of child marriage. Sajeda also shared her own experience as a victim of early marriage. But the parents refused to change their mind.

Committee members then took the next step, warning that they would inform the Camp in Charge to take formal action. This stern warning worked, and the parents called off the marriage. Now the girl is involved in the local youth club and is accessing social support.

For Sajeda, this outcome has only strengthened her commitment to keep working on this issue through the CBCPC with her fellow committee members to prevent child marriage in their camp, so that future generations of girls don’t experience the same hardships she faced.

The AHP response in Bangladesh is now in its third phase, involving all six Australian NGO partners and numerous local partners, such as FIVDB. The response focuses on WASH, the protection and inclusion of women, children, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups; education; adolescent reproductive health and support for host communities.