The work of Dr Zaki Wahhaj, Reader in Economics, is influencing practices and legal protection against early marriage. Written by Sunder Mahendra.<\/p>\n
During a period\u00a0of intense debate\u00a0in Bangladesh\u00a0among policy\u00a0makers and other stakeholders about effective strategies to tackle the practice of child marriages in Bangladesh,\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Zaki Wahhaj,\u00a0Reader in Economics\u00a0at the University of Kent,\u00a0conducted a research\u00a0on the consequences of female early marriage, in collaboration with international research partners.\u00a0The research was conducted within the context of the Government of Bangladesh\u2019s proposal to decriminalise early marriage in special circumstances\u00a0with the view\u00a0that it would make the practice more socially acceptable.<\/p>\n
The primary\u00a0approaches\u00a0adopted\u00a0by Dr.\u00a0Wahhaj\u00a0and partners\u00a0in conducting this research\u00a0included\u00a0a large-scale nationally representative survey of women in Bangladesh\u00a0with detailed history on their marriages\u00a0which was\u00a0then\u00a0followed up with a field experiment in 80 villages in Bangladesh to understand the effects of a recent change in child marriage law on social attitudes towards the practice and marriage timing decisions.<\/p>\n
Dr. Wahhaj presented his findings through talks and lectures at various fora including, at\u00a0Gulbenkian\u00a0theatre at the University of Kent, at Innovation for Poverty\u00a0Actions\u2019s\u00a0RECOVR\u00a0Roundtable Series. He\u00a0presented\u00a0his research findings at the University of Berkeley\u00a0recently<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dr.\u00a0Wahhaj\u2019s\u00a0public engagement during his research, was through working in partnership with civil society organisations that had the dual effect of informing his research as well as influencing the practices within these organisations.\u00a0\u00a0Since 2018,\u00a0Dr.Wahhaj\u00a0has collaborated with\u00a0MOMODa\u00a0Foundation, a non-profit organisation that operates a range of social development programmes in northern Bangladesh, and Dr Abu\u00a0Parves\u00a0Shonchoy\u00a0from Florida International University, to design an intervention aimed at reducing female early marriage in the region. The intervention, informed by the research on early marriage in Bangladesh will involve verifying and creating official birth records of adolescent girls to provide them with better legal protection against early marriage.<\/p>\n
The research provided detailed, up-to-date information on female marriage patterns, education, fertility, and employment and helped shape the understanding, approach and programmes of non-profit organisations working in the country on issues related to early marriage.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n| The findings from these studies helped inform the Population Council \u2013 an organisation that designs and evaluates programmes on important health and development issues around the world \u2013 in its own approach to tackling female early marriage in South Asia.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | The work has also been crucial in improving understanding at BLAST \u2013 the largest dedicated non-governmental legal services organization in Bangladesh \u2013 on how the law affects social attitudes and practices related to female early marriage.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | The survey data enabled Wahhaj, and his associates, to produce rigorous new evidence on the social effects of early marriage on individuals who marry at a young age.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" | |