Apparently, “bad” is spelled “baad” (not that English transliteration is ever accurate). More information, which may or may not be biased, can be found here, and here.

One of the articles says that some X percentage of Afghan women are “forced” into marriage. It’s not clear how they’re defining “forced” as most Westerners associate “arranged” marriage with “forced”. Marriage still remains very much a business or social transaction among families. In fact, I would venture to say that those who have the luxury of marrying solely out of love are in the minority.

Of course, if you’re forced to marry a guy who doesn’t think you deserve an education and beats the living daylights out of you – well, that’s a whole different story.