A/HRC/31/18/Add.2 F. Community-based education 72. It should be mentioned that educational projects involving issues of religion also exist outside of schools, for instance, in temples or churches. Some local religious communities show a strong commitment in this regard. This includes communities characterized by the overlap of ethnic, linguistic and religious minority situations, which attach importance to familiarizing the younger generations with their traditions, which they fear they might otherwise lose in the long term. VII. Legal questions involving religion A. Personal status laws based on religion 73. Whereas most aspects of the law in Bangladesh are secular, personal status issues — such as marriage, family life, divorce, custody of children, maintenance and inheritance — remain governed by religious laws. Depending on the religious backgrounds of the concerned individuals, provisions of Islamic law, Hindu law, Canon law, etc. apply. Buddhists do not have their own personal status law in Bangladesh, but fall under the Hindu law. Projects supported by the Government to design a specific personal status law for the Buddhist community so far seem to have failed. Representatives of the Baha’i community reported that it applies its own family laws, which are recognized by the Government. 74. The Government enacted the Hindu Marriage Registration Bill in 2012, with the aim of providing legal and social protection to Hindu women from marriage-related insecurity. The appointed Hindu Marriage Registrar should not register the marriage of a woman under 18 years of age or of a man under the age of 21 years. However, the registration of Hindu marriages still remains optional, thus leaving important issues unresolved. According to media reports and indications from non-governmental organizations, the Prime Minister’s cabinet was considering a revision to the law to make the minimum age of marriage 16 years for girls and 18 for men. The Government indicated recently that it had decided not to lower the minimum age of marriage for girls, which currently stands at 18 years, as specified in the Child Marriage Restraint Act. 75. Despite the existence of the Anti-Dowry Prohibition Act, the tradition of the dowry is still maintained and is worsened by the multiplication of non-registered marriages. This situation contributes to placing women in the humiliating position of being objects of bargaining. 76. From the viewpoint of freedom of religion or belief, religion-based personal status laws usually give rise to different concerns. Although the structure is to a certain degree pluralistic, the system does not easily, if at all, accommodate certain constellations of interreligious partnership. Moreover, some people — for instance, converts, agnostics, atheists and others — may face even greater difficulties to fit into the limited options provided by a religion-based structure of personal status laws. The Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate in this context that freedom of religion or belief does not merely protect the followers of traditional religions, but also those who profess other religions or beliefs, including agnostic or atheistic convictions. 5 5 See Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 22 (CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4), para. 2. 15