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Rani washes her face on March 6, 2017 in Khulna division, Bangladesh. Rani, who is now 16, was under pressure to marry a boy when she was 14-years-old despite the reluctance of Rani and her father, Abdul. When the boy's family, who are politically connected in the area, discovered the relationship, they insisted for the couple to get married. The boy threatened to kill himself while his family said they would kidnap her if she did not agree. The news had spread and arrangements were made after a woman's affairs officer got involved. Two years after the incident, Roni reflects and says, “I lost faith in men. Men can love women but they're not capable of respecting women. For our society for girls to leave the house and talk to boys, it's unacceptable. People gossip and start saying bad things about the girl”. She said the harassment was so bad that she can't walk around her village without wearing a burka. “If I go out without it on sometimes boys and men make rude comments to me, they use really bad words that I can't repeat out loud. If even one corner of my scarf is out of place then boys make bad comments. It happens to my friends all the time”. Rani now spends her time studying and dreams of being a doctor someday. The Bangladesh parliament approved a law last week that permits girls under age 18 to marry under special circumstances, with permission from their parents and a court without a minimum age for these marriages. Human Rights Watch called the move a “devastating step backward for the fight against child marriage in Bangladesh” as the country has the highest rate of child marriage in Asia, and ranks one of the top in the world with 52 percent of the girls married before age 18, and 18 percent married before age 15. (Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
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