"Marriage dispensation is when the prospective groom and bride are under 19 years old. In 2020, there was a three-fold increase (in child marriages)," Rohika, assistant to the ministry's deputy for fulfillment of children's rights to parenting and the environment, said at an online press conference here on Friday.
According to data processed by the Religious Affairs Courts Agency (Badilag) of the Supreme Court, the number of child marriage dispensation decisions in 2020 reached 63,383 compared to 23,145 in 2019 .
Rohika said Indonesia was included in the list of top ten countries with the highest child marriages in the world.
Therefore, intervention is needed to address the problem, which is prevalent in a number of provinces in Indonesia, she remarked.
The PPPA ministry is facing several challenges in efforts to achieve the national target to reduce the child marriage rate to 8.74 percent by 2024, Rohika informed.
They include risk behaviors on part of Indonesian youth, who do not understand the impact and risks of child marriage, she pointed out. In addition, some parents and religious and traditional leaders do not understand the child protection rights, she added.
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Besides, local communities still use religious and cultural interpretations to justify the practice of child marriage, Rohika said. Furthermore, relevant regulations need technical elaborations to avoid uncertainty in their implementation by stakeholders, she added.
"Stakeholders do not understand the regulations, there are still many who do not know about the dispensation for marriage and child marriage," she said.
According to Rohika, there needs to be a change in the mindset to change the tradition of child marriage, which has been continuously legitimized by the community.
The country is also lacking in providing referral services to children at risk of child marriage, she added.
"There are not many outreach services for children who are forced or vulnerable to forced marriage. Commitment to coordinating services is important in this regard," she remarked.
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Translator: Devi NSR, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
