KPPPA Records Child Marriages In 21 Provinces Exceeds National Figures

JAKARTA - Deputy for Gender Equality at the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (KPPPA), Lenny N. Rosalin, said there are 21 provinces with child marriage rates above the national figure of 10.35 percent.

"Child marriage is currently still high, still at 10.35 percent and 21 provinces are above the national figure", said Lenny in a webinar entitled "Men's Involvement in Improving Maternal Health as an Effort to Reduce Maternal Mortality Rates", reported Antara, Wednesday, December 15th.

According to her, child marriage is one of the contributions to the increasing maternal mortality rate.

"The negative impact of child marriage is also a contribution to the increasing maternal mortality rate. So the risk increases when the child's age (marriage) gets younger", she explained.

One of the causes of children marrying early is unwanted pregnancies due to promiscuity or being victims of rape.

Lenny said that the PPPA Ministry and law enforcement officers continue to handle various cases of sexual violence where most of the victims are girls.

"The case is going back and forth never-ending and most of them are dominated by sexual crimes where the victims are mostly women, our children", she said.

On that occasion, Lenny told a story when handling cases of sexual violence in West Java.

"The 13-year-old children are already carrying babies. They (the victims) should still be taken care of by their parents but now they are caregivers for their children. So age 13, age 14, and have a baby. Oh, what the future holds", she said.