RE: She left school, left home and got married at age 16.
What is the minimum age for marriage in Bangladesh?
I dont think it's as simple as seeing adult movies. It's a whole cultural and family based thing. We see a lot of under age relationships before marriage here and I think a lot has to do with the break down of families. They look for love and support elsewhere.
These things take a long time to change, often generations, but what you're doing now with the school and empowering women is definitely the right approach. You are potentially strengthening families so they can spend more time together instead of working constantly.
With a strong family relationship, children can see adult movies with supportive parental guidance and have a better understanding of the realities of what's going on there. They can learn why we don't feel these choices should be made when so young.
Legally, the minimum age of marriage is 21 for boys and 18 for girls. The stories I shared happened very recently and with people I know them personally. Maybe many people don't know it but as I work with slum women and children so I get the news anyhow. The registrar of the marriage sometimes take a bribe and increase the age of them when they go for marriage. Also, people change birth year if it is a problem. I don't know how they do. But 1 year ago, one of my relatives married with love relation and he was 17 years old and the girl was 16. He increased the age in birth certificate for marriage.
Our culture does not appreciate to watch romantic or love relationship movies with parents. Maybe it is changing somewhere in Bangladesh, but as we are from an area where people are conservative so we don't do this. This is why we left restaurants as there were some senior citizens. I also think it depends on cultural and family based becasue of lack of education, awareness and trends of family culture.
I am hopeful that it will change and I will try to address this issue to people I am working with. Thanks for your opinion.
That sounds like what used to happen back in England. A few generations ago you had to be 21 or you could marry at 18 with parental consent. Many would marry at 18 and say their age was 21. The marrying age is now 16 with consent or 18 without.