Social Approach Is The Key To Complete Children's Marriages In Indonesia

JAKARTA - Child marriage is still a serious challenge in various regions in Indonesia. To overcome this problem, the social approach is considered to be the most effective strategy.

For example, involving families, communities, schools, as well as community and religious leaders in educational and empowerment efforts, is an important step so that children, especially teenagers, are able to understand their rights and postpone marriage until adulthood.

This was conveyed by Herti Windya Puspasari, a researcher from the Center for Public Health and Nutrition Research, the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), in an online discussion held in Jakarta last Tuesday.

He explained that based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), in the period 2008 to 2018, the number of child marriages in rural areas reached 16.87 percent, much higher than in urban areas which was recorded at 7.15 percent.

According to Herti, the solution that can be applied to reduce child marriage rates is through a social process approach that includes education, counseling, and community empowerment.

"This strategy involves the interaction and active participation of the community in shaping norms and cultures that protect children's rights," he explained as quoted by ANTARA.

Various social interventions have been carried out but need to be strengthened again, such as the role of health cadres, reproductive health education in schools, assistance by homeroom teachers, and positive activities through Karang Taruna.

In addition, the existence of the Youth Information and Concession Center (PIK-R) is also an important space for teenagers to get the right education, including the risk of constitutional sexual relations that often lead to unplanned pregnancy and eventually trigger early marriage.

However, Herti also highlighted that local cultural factors are still a big obstacle. In a number of areas, traditional norms still support or tolerate the practice of early marriage. Therefore, he emphasized the importance of a local culture-based approach by cooperating with community leaders and religious leaders.

An example of this collaborative strategy has begun to be implemented in areas such as Madura (East Java) and Lombok (West Nusa Tenggara). There, the synergy between the village government, health workers, cadres, and religious leaders has proven to be able to create a dialogue space that is more accepted by the community.

"When information and education are conveyed by a figure respected by the local community, the message conveyed will be easier to accept and internalize. This collaboration is very important to form a new understanding of children's rights and the importance of education and mental readiness before entering marriage," said Herti.

He emphasized that if people want to see sustainable changes, then social approaches that touch aspects of value, norms, and culture need to continue to be expanded and strengthened.