Child marriage casts a long shadow across Bangladesh, impacting millions of girls and trapping them in a cycle of poverty and hardship. Despite being illegal since 1929, with the minimum age for marriage set at 18 for females and 21 for males, the reality on the ground paints a different picture. UNICEF reports that around two-thirds of women aged 20-24 were married before 18, with a staggering 29% married before 15. This translates to millions of girls - 38 million according to UNICEF -being robbed of their childhood and forced into a future they didn`t choose.