The Legalization of Child Marriage in Bangladesh

In the spring semester of my sophomore year, I took an Anthropology of Human Rights course where we explored the language, research, and philosophical positions underlying the work of anthropologists and human rights advocates. We also examined competing for ethical positions and debates between universal rights and cultural relativism. In this course, we were tasked with exploring current human rights issues around the world. We were put into groups and began our research. My group chose to focus on researching the legalization of child marriage in Bangladesh. After a few weeks of researching and writing the paper, we presented our findings at SPARC. Other than an informal Q&A my first-year, this was my first time giving a presentation at SPARC.

My section of the presentation focused around the ineffectiveness of a law passed in Bangladesh attempting to restrict child marriages, as well as solutions my group decided, could be used to combat the issue. The latter part of my section posed many difficult questions regarding cultural sensitivity and proposing concrete solutions to a topic my group saw as a violation of human rights. Ultimately we settled on two solutions: improved sex education for Bangladeshi citizens and the implementation of social workers who could help educate Bangladeshi adults on the potential dangers of child marriage while remaining culturally sensitive. This presentation was a critical part of my education because I was presenting on a topic that was unlike anything I had encountered prior. This experience shaped the way I think about social phenomena and encouraged me to think more critically from a cultural relativism theoretical frame.

Anthropology major learning outcomes covered: 1 & 5