Child marriage in Indonesia is driven by multidimensional factors that often overlap, such as poverty, unintended pregnancy, culture as well as gender stereotyping.

The National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas) data show that the child marriage rate in rural areas, even in developed rural areas, is two times higher than in urban areas.

According to Meiwita P Budiharsana from the Biostatistics and Population Department of the Public Health School at the University of Indonesia (UI), the existing laws and regulations concerning child marriage, even the legal age, were still incongruous to each other.

“The government needs to strengthen the law and policies to end child marriage, not just increasing the minimum age. Stringent rules are a must to ensure the law is implemented effectively,” she said.

The amended 1974 Marriage Law, which has been enacted since September 2019, raised the marriageable age to 19 for both sexes from the previous 16 for girls and 19 for boys.

It is one year older than the age definition of a child in the 2002 Law on child protection, however, the legal voting age and driver’s licence ownership start at the age of 17.

The 2019 Marriage Law carries no sanctions against child marriage, serving as a loophole for the district courts and religious courts to issue exemptions, with requirements that are relatively easy to obtain.

In November 2019, the Supreme Court issued a handbook for judges handling child marriage dispensation requests, in which it includes that the parents of the child bride- and groom-to-be have to provide information on the couple’s consent and whether they are physically, economically and psychologically ready to marry.

The court revealed that its religious courts nationwide had granted 64,211 child marriage exemptions in 2020, almost triple the previous year’s log of 23,126 requests.

In Yogyakarta, according to Meiwita, its religious courts have granted 700 child marriage exemptions in 2020. The province has the least prevalence in Java and Bali.

“The courts argued that 80 per cent of the requests were made to put the families out of shame as the brides were already pregnant. We have not verified whether pregnancy was the real case here or whether they had met all requirements to be eligible to marry, but child and teen pregnancy is a greater concern,” added Meiwita.

An ongoing study held by the Public Health School of the UI found that while child marriage could drive child grooms to depression due to the responsibility to financially support the family, girls were at risk of domestic violence and serious health consequences.

Meiwita said teenage pregnancy was the leading cause of death for girls aged 15 to 19 and contributed to the high rate of infant mortality in Indonesia.

“It causes morbidity in the mother, and they are likely to suffer from post-pregnancy complications, including post-partum depression,” she said. “There are also cases of infant disability, premature births and low birth weights that lead to the stunted growth of the infant.”

The percentage of babies with low birth weight was slightly higher (14.9 per cent) among those who were born from mothers aged below 15 than mothers aged 18 and older (13.57 per cent).

Abortion is a crime in Indonesia, with an exemption for rape victims.

“Since pregnancy is often used as an excuse for child marriage, [young people] should have access to information and health services to prevent it, and for those who are already married be able to make an informed decision to delay pregnancy,” added Meiwita.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK