NUK's Legal Aid & Early Marriage Prevention Program continues alongside its larger program areas, providing counselling and legal aid support to girls and women facing forced marriage or dowry violence in the communities where NUK already has an established presence.
How cases reach NUK
Most cases are identified through NUK's existing community networks — field organisers working through the community health programs in Kishoreganj, and outreach contacts built through the Family Development Program — rather than through a standalone legal intake process.
What support looks like
- Legal counselling on rights under Bangladesh's child marriage restraint and dowry prohibition laws.
- Referral to formal legal aid services where litigation is appropriate.
- Family mediation in cases where intervention before a marriage is finalised remains possible.
This work is delivered by NUK's broader internship and field staff structure — interns supporting NUK's development programming have historically gained direct exposure to this casework as part of their placements.
Ongoing challenges
Field staff report that economic precarity remains the most common underlying driver in early marriage cases, reinforcing the rationale for NUK's parallel investment in household economic support.