Barriers at every turn trap young women in crisis

SSC results released two days ago again put female students ahead of males - but for many girls, that achievement marks the end of their education, not the beginning.

Between the SSC and HSC exams, many girls will get married by their families, or their studies will stop for various reasons.

Child marriage, dropping out of education, being outside of employment, insecurity, and mental stress - altogether, girls aged 15-24 are getting trapped in various crises. Even the risk of suicide is higher for girls of this age.

According to the latest Population and Housing Census 2022 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the number of young women of this age in the country is 1,67,66,618. This means this massive number of young women is spending their days with various crises on their heads, falling behind young men of the same age.

Tania Haque of the Department of Women and Gender Studies at University of Dhaka told Agamir Somoy, “Until social security is ensured, young women will continue to fall behind. Families want to spend less on girls’ education and feel safe by marrying them off.

“Again, in-laws feel that there is no need for daughters-in-law to have jobs. Alongside this, there is social harassment, torture, and oppression. For these reasons, the opportunities for young women to be well are becoming limited.”

According to the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO), those aged 15-24 are considered youth. Although in Bangladesh’s National Youth Policy, those aged 18-35 are considered youth, this report has taken into account young women aged 15-24 as youth.

Female students are always ahead of boys in secondary and higher secondary results. Nevertheless, the dropout rate from education is higher for girls.

Data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) said in 2023, while the dropout rate for boys in secondary school was 30.63 percent, the rate for girls was 34.87 percent. In the same year, 22.45 percent of female students dropped out of higher secondary, which is higher than the boys.

In a 2024 UNICEF survey, the reasons for girls dropping out of school emerged, showing that 52.31 percent of girls left their studies due to marriage, 18.1 percent had to leave due to economic reasons, 8.1 percent left due to guardian reluctance, 6.2 percent could not continue their studies because of involvement in household work, and only 5.2 percent left school due to a lack of interest in studies.

Md Fazlur Rahman of the Institute of Education and Research at University of Dhaka said, “Mainly due to the lack of social security and religious reasons, girls drop out before higher education. Parents must be made to understand through counseling that for the change of familial financial conditions and for women’s empowerment, girls must be educated.

“To keep girls in studies, incentives must be increased further. Alongside this, if anyone has difficulty managing expenses, they should be encouraged toward technical training.”

The biggest reason for young women falling behind is child marriage. The government’s Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2025 said nearly one in every two women (47.2 percent) aged 20-24 in the country was forced to get married before the age of 18.

Bangladesh has the highest rate of child marriage in Asia and ranks eighth in the world. Data from this survey also added that among women with no institutional education, the child marriage rate is 69 percent, while it is 28 percent among those with higher secondary or more education. In the case of the poorest families, it is 65 percent, and for wealthy families, it is 41 percent.

Shireen Huq, a member of the women’s rights organization Naripokkho, said, “If girls become victims of sexual violence, it is still not considered a crime in society; rather, it is considered a stigma. Therefore, parents want to remain free from responsibility by marrying them off. To remove this mentality and to highlight the harmful aspects of early marriage, a social and cultural movement is needed.”

Mentioning that marriage is sometimes stopped through state initiatives and teachers help, she added, “If union parishad chairmen and ward commissioners can be brought under accountability, the number of such marriages will decrease. If the use of birth certificates can be made universal, positive change can come.”

Young women are also lagging behind in the job market. BBS Population and Housing Census 2022 said 34.26 percent of the total population aged 15-24 is not associated with education, employment, or training.

This means 1,08,11,404 youth of this age are in an economically inactive state. Among boys, this rate is 13.28 percent, while for girls of the same age, it is 52.76 percent. This means that out of every 100 young women aged 15-24, 53 are outside of education, jobs, or training, which is four times higher than boys.

According to International Labour Organization (ILO) data, even if they get work opportunities, many young women are entering workplaces where job security, social protection, and guarantees of a permanent income are low. Many women also have to quit jobs due to the lack of a work-friendly environment and daycare.

Mohammad Bellal Hossain of the Department of Population Sciences at University of Dhaka said, “If the country’s demographic potential is to be utilized, it is not possible by excluding young women. This damages not just a young woman’s future, but the entire society and economic system.”

He emphasized increasing higher education opportunities for girls, creating skills according to market demand, and ensuring safe employment to tackle this crisis.

Security for young women is a major crisis in the country. They are facing various types of harassment and risks everywhere - from the streets, public transport, educational institutions, and workplaces to the online world.

Along with the uncertainty of education and employment, young women are also in anxiety due to these reasons. Due to the increase in various types of mental stress, many choose the path of suicide.

According to data from the Aachol Foundation, 190 people committed suicide at the school level in 2025. Among them, 73.2 percent or 139 were female students. Among the 403 students who died by suicide across all educational institutions in the same year, 249 were women (61.8 percent).

The prevalence of mental illness is higher among women than men in Bangladesh. The National Mental Health Survey found 21.5 percent of women suffering from mental illness, while the rate for men is 15.7 percent.

Mekhla Sarkar said when faced with mental stress at a young age, many young women seek a solution in suicide due to a lack of experience in handling it. Most of the time, this happens as an instant decision.

She added that because girls have higher emotions and less communication with the outside world, they have a greater sense of sorrow compared to boys and commit suicide more.