Psychological And Reproductive Organs Not Perfect, Minister Of PPPA Calls Early Marriage Cause Stunting

PMI officers check children's nutrition/ Photo: Rizky Sulistio/ VOI

JAKARTA - The Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, Bintang Puspayoga, said that early marriage is one of the causes of stunting problems in children in the country.

"WHO mentions that one of the problems of stunting is due to the high rate of early marriage," said Minister Bintang in a webinar entitled 'Prevent Stunting for Indonesia's Golden Generation with Megawati Soekarnoputri' which was attended in Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, March 17.

According to him, women and men who are married are actually not psychologically mature. Their knowledge and understanding of pregnancy and child rearing is also not necessarily qualified and correct.

"Similarly, physically, their reproductive organs are not yet fully formed, so there is a high risk of disturbing the development of the fetus," said Bintang.

Not only that, the marriage of underage couples is also not supported by a well-established financial capacity that determines the nutritional intake that children get.

In addition to the risk of giving birth to stunting babies, child marriage is also a practice that can tarnish all children's rights, one form of violence against children and violates human rights.

"Child marriage, whether it's a boy or a girl, is a form of human rights violation," he added.

In an effort to prevent child marriage, his party has launched the Joint Movement for the Prevention of Child Marriage.

"As well as directly overseeing the preparation of the Regional Action Plan for the Prevention of Child Marriage," he said.

In addition, the PPPA Ministry also signed an MoU with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) regarding the maturation of the age of child marriage to improve the quality of life of human resources.

Another strategic effort is the PPPA Ministry overseeing the discussion of the Draft Government Regulation on Marriage Dispensation as a derivative of Law Number 16 of 2019 concerning Amendments to Law Number 1 of 1974 concerning Marriage.