Educating to End the Cycle of Child Marriage

ECW marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women by sharing a story about the power of education to stop child marriages.

By Education Cannot Wait

November 23^rd, 2023

Women and girls around the world continue to face gender-based violence – whether physical, sexual or psychological. Girls, especially displaced girls, are often forced into marriage at an early age, stripping them of their inherent right to an education. Most of the countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage face severe humanitarian crises – including Bangladesh, where 51% of girls are married before their 18th birthday, and 22% before their 15th. This is unacceptable.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women marks the launch of the UNiTE campaign, 16 days of activism devoted to ending violence against women and girls, and working to create opportunities for the most vulnerable in society.

Today and every day, ECW and partners continue to champion the rights of girls everywhere to an inclusive, quality education – and a childhood free from violence, fear and child marriage. Read Roshida’s powerful story and learn how ECW investments in Bangladesh are reaching Rohingya refugees, and ensuring girls are protected and empowered to continue their education, becoming child scholars, not child brides.

Roshida in her classroom at a UNICEF learning centre in Cox's Bazar. © CODEC/Taharul Islam

Hope through education

Roshida has suffered many losses in her young life.

When she was just one year old, her father died at sea. At the age of three, her mother died in childbirth. Orphaned at such a young age, her grandmother stepped in to raise Roshida. When a brutal crackdown in Myanmar targeted the Rohingya in 2017, Roshida and her grandmother fled their home together – part of the latest and largest exodus of the ethnic group from the country.

Roshida and her grandmother are just two of the million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh today. They now live in Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee camp. Despite losing her home and much of her family, Roshida has never lost hope for her education.

In the densely packed camp of temporary shelters, refugees fight for survival every day. Fortunately, after her harrowing journey to Bangladesh, Roshida was able to begin classes at a learning centre supported by ECW, and run by UNICEF and other partners. There, she dove into her studies, becoming a star student with big dreams.

Roshida with her grandmother in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. © CODEC/Taharul Islam

The spectre of child marriage

After reaching adolescence, Roshida’s teachers at the learning centre noticed that she was missing classes.

For girls living in refugee camps, safety concerns, cultural barriers and a lack of proper menstrual hygiene supplies often prevent them from continuing with their studies. It's also at this age that many families push girls into child marriage.

Child marriage is one of the most common forms of violence against women and girls. However, vulnerable families often consider child marriage to be an act of protection against gender-based violence.

Roshida’s grandmother was particularly worried about her granddaughter's safety going to and from the learning centre every day. Weighing the risks that she saw for Roshida, she decided to search for a husband for the fifteen-year-old girl. “I don’t have long left to live. She needs a man who will take care of her. It’s time for her to get married,” she recounted thinking.

Having noticed Roshida’s absence from the learning centre, a community volunteer soon reached out to Roshida and her grandmother, to offer support that would facilitate the girl's return to school. The volunteer talked with them about the consequences of child marriage: lost potential and agency in Roshida’s life, as well as heightened health risks related to gender-based violence.

They also shared what an education could mean for a girl like Roshida: a chance to learn a profession, reach her full potential and break the cycle of poverty forever.

Roshida, back at one of the learning centres in Cox's Bazar, supported by Education Cannot Wait, UNICEF and other partners. © CODEC/Taharul Islam

Realizing girls’ potential

With the support of volunteers who walk with Roshida to and from class every day, the fifteen-year-old is now regularly attending classes again at the learning centre. She recently passed her school exams, a significant achievement that puts her on a path to future success.

For Roshida, the spectre of child marriage is now a thing of the past. She dreams of inspiring and teaching other girls to create better opportunities for themselves – replacing the vicious cycle of violence against girls with a cycle of education and empowerment.

“I won’t get married before I turn 18. I see the challenges that the girls in my community face. If I get an education, I will teach them and, together, we will create a more equal future.” ~Roshida

Learning sessions for Rohingya refugee girls in UNICEF learning centres. © UNICEF Bangladesh/Maria Spiridonova

Education protects and empowers

Through ECW investments in Bangladesh, strategic partners – including UNICEF, Plan International, Save the Children, UNESCO, BRAC, UNHCR and the Norwegian Refugee Council – are empowering girls to thrive in school. Community mobilization on gender equality and the right of girls to education is a key element of ECW’s Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Bangladesh. To date, over 300,000 Rohingya refugees and host community children, half of them girls, have been reached with education support. Thanks to recent, additional leverage funding from Canada, more adolescent girls at risk of child marriage will receive resources to continue their education.

ECW-supported parent-teacher associations and school management committees, like the one that kept Roshida in school, have been formed across refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. In all, over 2,000 social workers and counsellors have been trained. This initiative ensures that girls and boys who have lived through the horror of violence and displacement receive the support they need. Moreover, to ensure the Multi-Year Resilience Programme is best placed to prevent gender-based violence, Plan International is strengthening the capacity of ECW’s implementing partners on this critical issue.

On the Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ECW is calling on the international community to rally behind the children and youth left furthest behind in our world, and provide additional funding to support crucial initiatives that help girls like Roshida discover their autonomy. With these expanded resources, ECW can continue to support global strategic partners in reaching millions more with the empowerment, opportunity and protection that a quality education provides.

Adolescent girls cheer for their classmate in a UNICEF learning centre. © UNICEF Bangladesh/Maria Spiridonova

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