Child marriage is a violation of a child's right, and that means the violation of human rights
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has issued a Presidential Letter assigning four ministers to discuss along with the House of Representatives (DPR) the revision of the Law Number 1 of 1974 on marriages.

The Presidential Letter numbered R-39/Pres/09/2019 assigned the Minister of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA), Minister of Religion, Minister of Health, and Minister of Law and Human Rights to discuss the issue, Minister of PPPA Yohana Susana Yembise stated. "The Presidential Letter which was issued Friday, September 6, had encouraged the Ministry of PPPA to ask the DPR to approve and legitimize marriage law revision," Yembise remarked here Monday.

The state will guarantee a child the right to have a sustainable life, to grow, and be protected from violence and discrimination, including protection from child marriage, she emphasized.

"Child marriage is a violation of a child's right, and that means the violation of human rights," Yembise added.

The revision must be done following the decision of the Constitutional Court dated December 13, 2018, to raise the minimum marriageable age of girls.

The old marriage law noted that the minimum marriageable age was 19 years for a man and 16 years for a woman. The government, according to the revised law, pursued the minimum marriageable age for a woman to be also raised to 19 years.

This step is being considered as Law Number 23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection noted the age of children to be from 0 to 18 years.

One out of four girls is married, which means there are about 340 thousand girls who are married within a year, according to 2017 data of Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

As categorized by province, 23 out of the 34 provinces in Indonesia have child marriage numbers which are more than 25 percent.

The revision could be done soon before the 2014-2019 legislators' service period ends by this September, Yembise affirmed.

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Translator: Suwanti
Editor: Sri Haryati
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