( CNN ) -- At the time when girls should be deciding on where to go to university , most girls in my country are deciding on a wedding dress . I am 16-years-old and where I come from in Bangladesh , many girls my age grow quickly from children to adults because they are forced into marriage . I could have been one of those girls , but I 'm one of the few girls in my country who is blessed to have support from my parents and community to live the life of a joyful teenage girl . Every girl should have the right to that life , but there are millions of girls in my country who are not so fortunate and are subjected to child marriage . It makes me sad to think about the fate of these girls , and that is why I am here at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women , to share my experience with global leaders and give other girls a chance to change the world with me . According to the UN , any person under the age of 18 is a child . I am still a child , and children like me need love , care and protection . Every child dreams of a brighter future and a better world , but the question is , why does this dream become a nightmare in the lives of so many girls ? As a girl , I must ask these questions to the world 's leaders . The law in Bangladesh says no girl should get married before 18 years of age and no boy before 21 years of age . But yet , Bangladesh has the highest rate of child marriage among the south Asian countries . It is estimated that two-thirds of Bangladeshi girls are married before the age of 18 . In my village , I witnessed lots of wedding parties for underage brides . For the past three years I have lost at least two friends to early marriages at an age where I did n't even know what marriage was . Now those girls have their own children . I do n't want to lose any more friends . In my childhood I used to play with dolls . Sometimes I arranged marriages for the dolls . That is how parents treat their daughters â€ ” like dolls who have no voice . There are many reasons why early marriage is so prevalent in Bangladesh , but one of the biggest reasons is lack of quality education . There are 64,000 villages in our country , and most of the people living in villages have no access to education . They have no idea about the likely consequences of child marriage , and so it 's a cycle that continues . Education helps create opportunities for girls to contribute to family income . If a girl can feed her family , it will help parents rethink the idea that their daughters are a burden . Girls who become brides stay uneducated because they must become mothers , caretakers and homemakers , further driving the cycle of poverty and powerlessness . Early marriage has contributed to every problem prevailing in my country , directly or indirectly . It increases child death and maternal death , increases divorce and broken families , increases population and decreases female education and empowerment . If we stop this problem , other problems in our country will be reduced automatically . How can we put a stop to this injustice ? Building awareness through films like `` Girl Rising '' that pressure governments to implement laws against child marriage and educating communities like World Vision does in Bangladesh . I am a part of World Vision 's child forum and just this year we have used our voices to stop three child marriages in our community . Those girls are still in school . I myself was saved because my own community was made aware of the negative consequences of early marriage and the importance to giving me an education . Both my mother and grandmother were considered burdens in their families . My grandmother got married when she was 9 and my mother got married when she was 16 . But at 16 I will not be getting married any time soon , because that cycle has stopped with me . I am not a burden to get rid of . I am a blessing , and I have dreams that I will and can achieve . My hope is that my friends in Bangladesh and girls around the world will get to chase their dreams , too .
Humaiya Akhter is a 16-year-old advocate for girl 's education and child rights in Bangladesh . She was arrested on April 26 after she went to the police station with her mother, who had been charged under Section 295A of Bangladesh's penal code ( which criminalises 'immoral acts' ). She says one of the biggest reasons for early marriage is lack of education . CNN Films will release `` Girl Rising , '' focusing on improving the lives of girls around the world .