Bangladesh is witnessing increased cases of child marriage and divorce, which nearly doubled compared to figures posted in recent years. Divorces have gone in both the urban and rural areas.
The prominent cause for divorce in the country is extramarital affairs and irreconcilable differences, according to the final report of Sample Vital Statistics 2022 (SVRS) conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), and published in their website on January 31.
This survey was conducted in more than three lakh households.
According to the report, during the survey period, the marriage rate per thousand people was the highest ever. The marriage rate in rural areas is significantly higher than in urban areas. The marriage rate per thousand is 19.5 in rural areas and 13.8 in urban areas.
In the matter of marital status, 63.9 per cent of the population is currently married and 28.7 per cent are unmarried.
The remaining 7.4 per cent are widowed or divorced. The percentage of widowed or divorcees among women is almost 7 times higher than that of men counterparts – 12.6 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively.
The report mentions that the average age of first marriage has dropped slightly in recent years, especially for men. The average age of marriage for men was 24.4 years in 2018 which decreased to 24 years in 2022.
However, the average age of marriage for women was 18.6 years in 2018, which reduced to 18.4 years in 2022.
In recent years, child marriage remained as a concerning issue as there is a consistent growth trend on the rate of marriage before 16 years and 18 years. Marriage before age 15 increased by 6.5 per cent in 2022, which was 4.6 per cent in 2018.
Previously, the marriage rate of women before 18 years was 40.9 per cent in 2022 which was 30 per cent in 2018 so it increased by 2.18 percentage points on average every year.
In 2022, the number of divorces increased to almost double. In recent years, the rate of divorce in per thousand is 1.4 per cent which was 0.7 per cent in 2021. The rate has increased in rural and urban areas simultaneously. The rate of marital separation surged in 2022 to 0.29 per cent which was 0.13 per cent in 2021.
Key causes of divorces
One of the primary reasons is extramarital affairs. Approximately 23 per cent participants of the survey highlighted this reason and 22 per cent focused on inabilities to serve marital obligations in marriage as the cause of divorce.
Incapacity or refusals to provide alimony, family pressure, physical abuse, sexual incompetence or apathy etc. are mentioned as reasons of divorce.
Highest number of the divorces for extramarital affairs took place in Dhaka division and the lowest in Mymensingh division.
For inability to lead conjugal life, divorce rate is high in Barisal division and lowest in Sylhet. For incapacity or refusal to provide alimony, the highest number of divorces occurred in Rajshahi and the lowest in Chattogram.
Family pressure has the highest rate in Mymensingh, lowest in Dhaka. Physical abuse again is the major reason in Mymensingh, lowest in Rajshahi.
For sexual incompetence or apathy, divorce rate is much higher in Rangpur and for Barishal division the rate is almost zero. In Sylhet, the divorce rate is high for the reason of spouses living overseas for long periods of time.
