NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF EARLY MARRIAGE
AND THE SOLUTION TO PREVENT IT

A.    Introduction

Early marriage is a marriage carried out by a couple or one of the partners who are categorized as children or adolescents under the age of 19 years. Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) released data that Indonesia is the second largest country after Cambodia in cases of early marriage in Southeast Asia. The rise of the practice of early marriage is a very worrying phenomenon in most regions in Indonesia, such as Jambi, South Sumatra, Bengkulu, West Java, East Java, Kalimantan and West Nusa Tenggara. This is of course very worrying because it will not only have a negative impact in terms of health but also from an economic and educational perspective which will certainly have an impact on the nation and state of Indonesia.

Quoting from IDN TIME NTB that the Province of West Nusa Tenggara was included in the top seven highest number of child marriage cases in Indonesia. Based on data from the NTB Provincial Office for Women's Empowerment, Child Protection, Population Control and Family Planning (DP3AP2KB), the number of child marriages is still quite high. In 2020, the highest number of child marriages is in Bima Regency with 235 cases. Then Central Lombok 148 cases, West Lombok and North Lombok 135 cases, Dompu 128 cases, Sumbawa 117 cases, East Lombok 43 cases, West Sumbawa 16 cases and Mataram City 8 cases. In order to reduce the number of child marriages, the NTB Provincial Government issued Regional Regulation Number 5 of 2021 concerning the Prevention of Child Marriage and is working with the Plan Indonesia Foundation through Generasi Bangsa Bebas Perkawinan Usia Anak Program (Gema Cita).

B.    Body

Usually the causes of early marriage are cultural and socio-economic factors. There are many negative impacts of early marriage including in terms of health, economy and education. the most disadvantaged party in early marriage is the bride's side because it will sacrifice her physical and mental development. Getting pregnant at a young age and dropping out of school will limit a woman's career opportunities. In addition, early marriage can increase the risk of domestic violence.

Pregnancy at a young age has the potential to increase health risks for women and babies because the body is not ready for pregnancy and childbirth. Young women are still experiencing growth and development. If she is pregnant, the growth and development of her body will be disrupted. Usually conditions that arise due to pregnancy at a young age are: High Blood Pressure, Anemia. Babies born prematurely, stunted and die during childbirth. The Impact of Mental Health on Early Marriage.

Early marriage usually often causes a woman's mental health to be disturbed. The threat that often occurs is that young women are vulnerable to becoming victims of domestic violence and they don't know how to get rid of this situation. The lack of mental readiness for married couples to undergo a household ark causes domestic violence to occur frequently. Apart from wives, children in early marriage are also at risk of becoming victims of domestic violence. In fact, children who become witnesses to cases of domestic violence will grow up with various difficulties, such as learning difficulties and limited social skills. On the other hand, these children often exhibit naughty behavior, are at risk of depression or severe anxiety disorders.

In general, early marriages often experience financial shortages or family economic problems and become a source of family disharmony. Having a family means we have to be financially independent and able to manage our income so we can meet our family's needs. early marriage couples, automatically their education is not optimal. Limited education ultimately limits access to employment opportunities for them. This will certainly cause the economic conditions of couples who marry early it is difficult to improve. In addition, the work ethic of couples who marry early is also not maximized because they do not have experience, strong reasoning power to make family economic goals and achieve them.

Early marriages are vulnerable to giving birth to poor families due to low education so access to jobs is also low. Financial unpreparedness will make a new family into a poor family. if the early marriage couple immediately became pregnant and had children, of course the needs would be more and more urgent, while not being accompanied by their prepared abilities as parents. In the end, many couples divorce because of the family's financial failure. Quoted from Online Law, one of the most dominant causes of divorce cases in Indonesia from year to year is the economic factor and is the number two cause of divorce after constant disputes and fights. This divorce became the gateway to a new poor family.

C.    Conclusion

Based on the explanation above, efforts to prevent early marriage need to be done to minimize the negative impact it causes. Awareness and the role of various stakeholders starting from parents, community leaders, educational institutions and the government is the main key in solving the problem of this early marriage case.

Schools as educational institutions can also maximize their role in preventing and minimizing cases of early marriage. To be able to carry out its role, schools certainly cannot do it alone but must work together with institutions or other parties who are responsible, in this case parents, guardians of students, regional heads, village government and the local religious affairs office. There are many things that schools can do as follow-up efforts to Regional Regulation Number 5 of 2021 concerning the Prevention of Child Marriage issued by the NTB provincial government, such as:

1.  Design a curriculum for school operations and learning (intracurricular) as well as self-development activities (extracurricular) that accommodate knowledge and information about the negative impacts of early marriage.

2.    Conduct socialization activities on Sex Education and Reproductive Health in collaboration with the Puskesmas, Pusat Informasi dan Konseling Remaja (PIK R) and Badan Kependudukan dan Keluarga Berencana Nasional (BKKBN).

3.  Make a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with students and student guardians which contains the readiness of students not to marry and the consequences if it is violated by involving the regional head, village government and the office of religious affairs.

The case of early marriage is not a trivial case but a global case faced by all developing countries. Because this case would not be possible to handle if it was assigned to a particular institution or agency, it would have to involve all parties, starting from the smallest elements (children and their parents) to the largest (the state). (Cholid)

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