Child Marriages in Bangladesh: Assessing Through the Lens of Social and Behavioural Change: A Qualitative Review

Abstract

Development agencies, including UNICEF, has for long pioneered in Communication for Development (C4D) and therefore, stood as a catalytic lead in playing fulcrum to design, programming, implementation and creating evidence for children, young people and women. The discourse has recently transformed to Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) with an emphasis on ‘behavioural insights’. It shall bear a significant impact on mitigating child marriages across the region, including Bangladesh. Child marriage is an accepted practice across communities in Bangladesh albeit in varying degrees. It necessarily requires effective partnerships, sustained community mobilization, empowerment of adolescents for bringing marked changes in individual, family and community behaviours through active engagements with and exposure to the multiple communication tools. Drivers for child marriage are usually common in Bangladesh, and are anchored in the social, structural and systemic features of a patriarchal society, which invariably oppress women and girls as a second-class citizen and promote gender inequality at all stages. The current desk-based qualitative analysis, regardless of its limitations, confirms that SBC interventions designed to maximize community collaboration and participation can have a beneficial impact on mitigating child marriages in Bangladesh.