VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The ratification of the Sexual Violence Bill is expected to become a progressive step toward preventing the increasing number of child marriages in Indonesia.

Deputy for children's rights fulfillment at the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry, Agustina Erni, made the remark in a press release issued on Tuesday.

"Article 10 stipulates provisions regarding criminal snares for perpetrators of forced marriage, who can be sentenced to a maximum imprisonment of 9 years and or (face) a maximum fine of Rp200 million. Besides imprisonment or fine, Article 11 also stipulates the revocation of child custody," Erni noted.

Child marriage is one of the national issues that require attention and synergy from multi-sectoral parties, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, there has been an increase in applications for marriage dispensations in several regions in Indonesia, she noted.

There are several things that can lead to child marriage, namely avoiding adultery, imperfect understanding of comprehensive reproductive health, as well as economic factors.

Based on data from the Religious Courts Agency (Badilag), there were 25,280 cases of marriage dispensation in 2019.

"In 2020, the figure increased to 65,301, while in 2021 there were 63,350 cases. Based on the data we received, the highest marriage dispensation was in the Java area, namely the Surabaya City Religious Court, Semarang City Religious Court, and Bandung City Religious Court," Erni informed.

She said that the increase was driven by an increase in the age limit for marriage from 16 to 19 years, as regulated in Law Number 16 of 2019 concerning Amendments to Law Number 1 of 1974 concerning Marriage.

"We must take child marriage seriously because, based on data from Badilag, in general, child marriage only lasts for one to two years. If there are around 65 thousand couples asking for marriage dispensation and they have one or two children, it could reach 130 thousand children with improper development," she added.

Erni said child marriage has several negative impacts, such as the risk of maternal death due to giving birth at a young age, stunting, and increased poverty rates.

"This condition will definitely affect the achievement of targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), National Medium-Term Development Program (RPJMN), and the National Strategy for Reducing Child Marriage," she added. (Antaranews)