Understand the use of the Children’s Forum to increase knowledge about menstruation education and child marriage in Central Lombok and North Lombok
(Memahami pemanfaatan Forum Anak untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan tentang pendidikan menstruasi dan perkawinan anak di Lombok Tengah dan Lombok Utara)
Peneliti
GRACE MACKLEY (Peneliti Utama)
New Colombo Plan Scholar, Master of Public Health Student
- Lembaga Perlindungan Anak Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Barat (LPA NTB)
- Universitas Islam Negeri Mataram (UIN Mataram)
Introduction
The act of marriage for many is an act of love, with a partner when they are mature and able to make a mature decision to marry. However, many young people and children across the world may not get to experience this due to early marriage. Early marriage is marriage before the age of 18 years (UNICEF, 2022). Often resulted from economic, social, and cultural factors. The effects of early marriage severely impact young people’s health, education, and behaviour (Malhotra & Elnakib, 2021). Early marriage can impact behaviour and development, encouraging young people, more commonly girls, to mature too quickly eliminating their rights to be children and young people (UNICEF, 2022). This research conducted focus group discussions with ‘forum anak’ participants in Lombok to understand their knowledge of early marriage and capture recommendations to reduce the prevalence in Lombok. Action for early marriage is imperative as the act endangers young people and violates several of their human rights, as outlined by the United Nations and breaches Indonesia’s National Laws on children’s rights (UNICEF, ND; Sri Karyati, & Farhana, Lestari, 2019; Child rights international network, 2013). This report provides a background of the severity of early marriage in Indonesian, and interventions that have been developed to reduce child marriage. Outlining the findings of ‘forum anak’ participants’ understanding of early marriage, the causes and impacts on children, young people, and the community. Lastly, outlining interventions to reduce early marriage. The intent of this report is to outline the voices of young people in Lombok, demonstrate the need for action to be taken and request grant funding to aid in the empowerment of young people to be active agents of change in their communities to reduce early marriage in Lombok.
The act of child marriage is a human rights issue that negatively impacts the health and well-being of young people. Child marriage is a marriage under civil, religious, or customary law, in which one or both parties are under the age of 18 years (Hakiki, Ulfah, Khoer, Supriyanto, Basorudin & Larasati, 2020). The terminology of child marriage has many negative connotations, and the act of child marriage commonly occurs to children and adolescents not just children. To be more respectful of the millions of people who have experienced child marriage, in this report, child marriage will be referred to as early marriage or young marriage. Within Indonesia, marriage between same-sex couples is not contained in Law No.1 of 1974 concerning marriage which has been changed to Law No. 16 of 2019 amendments concerning marriage (Dedihasriadi, Hsieh & Umar, 2022). Given the marriage laws in Indonesia, this report refers to marriage between males and females and acknowledges the heteronormativity in this report.
Across low and middle-income countries one out of three girls are married before their eighteenth birthday (McCleary-Sills, Hanmer, Parsons & Klugman, 2015). The health priority of young marriage is complex and multifaceted. Young marriage can lead to severe health impacts, with females most at risk of experiencing negative health outcomes. Child marriage impacts an individual’s emotional and physical health, the health of their children, education outcomes and economic opportunity. The unequal power imbalance in marriages and social isolation that females often experience in young marriages perpetuates poor mental health and the ability to exercise agency in their marriage. Emotionally, females have higher rates of mental health disorders than males which is believed to be linked to gender based-inequalities that often impact females and are persecuted by young marriage (John, Kapungu & Tadesse, 2022; WHO, 2018). Additionally, child marriage impacts child development and maternal and infant health. There is a correlation between young marriage and maternal and infant mortality (Kementerian PPN, 2020). Once a child is married their childhood and education normally end simultaneously. It is common for females to cease their education once married and are four times less likely to complete education higher than high school or go back to school if they have a child (Kementerian PPN, 2020). This increases their dependence on their spouse and decreases their skilled employment opportunities. Often leading to low-level employment which is physically demanding on the body and can impact health and economic outcomes in the future. The increased financial need and dependence on the spouse contribute to the power imbalance and perpetuate the likelihood of violence. Evidence shows a correlation between parents who have low levels of education and cases of child marriage (Alfafan, Said, & Musa, 2022). This lack of education negatively impacts the socio economic status (SES) of the married couple, nonetheless, can lead to a cycle of young marriage and low SES for future generations.
In Indonesia, one in every nine females between the ages of 20 – 24 was married before they were 18 years old, for males it was one in a hundred (UNFPA, 2020; Akaml 2022). Various programs and initiatives have taken place in Indonesia to address the health priority of young marriage at the macro, meso and micro levels. At the macro level, the government have made an amendment to the legal age of marriage. The age for marriage with parental consent has increased from 16 years to 19 years of age and without parental consent to 21 years for males and females (UNICEF, 2019). However, simply changing the law is not enough to eradicate young marriage. Integration between the government, non-government organisations (NGOs) and other stakeholders is pivotal to educate hard-to-reach areas of Indonesia about the new law and the danger of young marriage (Equal Measure, 2023). The government has developed a national strategy to address child marriage and set targets to decrease young marriage from 11.2% in 2018 to 8.74% by 2024 (UNFPA, 2020). The strategy is focused on enhancing the capacity of children and enabling young people to be agents of change. The national strategy outline that the most successful intervention for young marriage is using a strengthening strategy for girls through capacity building and social support structure (Kementerian PPN, 2020). Examples of this are through the development of ‘forum anaks’ (children forums) and peer education programs that focus on the meso and micro level to instil a bottom-up approach. Cuevas-Parra and Tisdal (2022) outline that groups of children have been successful in channelling their actions to create social change and influence decision-making.
‘Forum anaks’ are child lead groups that enable child participation and empowerment. Aiding children to advocate, be ambassadors for change in the community, provide education and safe spaces for children. Examples of ‘forum anaks’ in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) are in (confirm with Pak Ucok). Siak regency and Sumbawa. In the Siak Regency ‘forum anaks’, were developed to bridge the gap between the interaction between the government and children, to amplify children’s voices in the community and government strategies towards child marriage and other social issues (Yohana, Nor, Hardianti, & Harahap). In Sumbawa, these forums aid in fulfilling child protection rights and foster children to be ambassadors and agents of change to prevent child marriage (Fahrunnisa, Apriadi, Atmasari, Hidayat, & Aggasi, 2019). At the micro level, education about the risks of young marriage, and the encouragement to delay marriage and childbirth help to positively socialise children and adolescents to reduce risk behaviour.
Despite these programs, young marriage in NTB is still a health priority. Bennett outlined in 2014, that in North Lombok, NTB, there is a high rate of child marriage. Yet, almost 10 years later the data is the same. Indonesia is in the top eight countries with high rates of child marriage in the world, and NTB has the highest prevalence (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2020; Rahiem, 2021). Uncoincidentally, the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in Indonesia is 305 per 100,000 live births, despite 91% of deliveries having skilled birth attendants present (Aryanty & Widyantoro, 2019). One can see the link between high rates of young marriage and MMR in Indonesia. Despite the action taking place at the macro, meso and micro levels more is urged to address the issues of young marriage in Indonesia. Considering the high rates of young marriage in Lombok, research will be conducted to understand young marriage and how it can be reduced in Lombok through focus group discussions with ‘forum anak’ members to answer the research questions:
- What is the knowledge of young marriage for ‘forum anak’ participants in Lombok?
- What strategies do ‘forum anak’ participants recommend for reducing young marriage in Lombok?
Young marriage is a human rights violation, on the rights of children and young people. This report has used a rights-based approach to ensure the rights of participants throughout this research and aims to support the rights of children and young people affected by young marriage. The aim of this report is to outline the knowledge and recommendation of the ‘forum anak’ participants to reduce young marriage in Lombok, through the request of funding to establish and fund recommendations from participants to work with the community to reduce young marriage in Lombok and ensure young people can freely exercise their human rights.
This research has been conducted in partnership with the State Islamic University of Mataram and Lembaga Perlindungan Anak (Child Protection Institution) (LPA NTB). The main researcher is an Australian-born, cis white female with no lived experience of young marriage, fluent in English and basic-intermediate in Indonesian. The Australian researcher has lived in Lombok for the duration of this research, undertaken cultural awareness training and attended Bahasa Indonesian language training prior to conducting the research. Additional affiliated are Indonesian-born males, one who is fluent in both Indonesian and English, the other fluent in Indonesian.
The ethics for this research followed a rights-based approach to ensure ethics were adhered to and participants’ rights maintained. Research ethics was granted by the Ethics Review Board of the State Islamic University of Mataram. To ensure this research encompassed cultural and local contexts, there was a collaboration with existing partners of the State Islamic University of Mataram and LPA. Prior to the research, a plain English and Bahasa statement was provided to participants clearly outlining the intended nature of the research. All consent forms and recruitment were conducted through LPA as they have a strong relationship with the target community and ensure cultural sensitivity. As some participants were under the age of 18, parental consent was given, and an adult representative was present in each focus group. Prior to the commencement of each focus group, the researchers clearly outlined the intended nature of the research prior to the research and gave the participant and adult representative an opportunity to ask questions. The focus group discussion was recorded and transcribed, the facilitators took notes throughout. To ensure the respect and confidentially of participants, names and information about identity were not transcribed or kept on file. Data was stored in a secure file with a password code, to prevent any privacy breach. All participants names and details have not been included in this report to ensure confidentiality.
Participants for this research were females and males from Lombok between the ages of 15 and 24 years, with a median age of 17 years. Four female adult representatives were present, two at each focus group. Two focus groups were conducted, one in North Lombok and the other in South Lombok, with a total of 22 participants (13 North Lombok and 9 South Lombok). The focus groups had a larger representation of females (81.8%) than males (22.2%). Purposive sampling and snowball recruitment were used to recruit participants for this study, the LPA representative selected participants based on the inclusion criteria and utilised their community network to invite participants to attend the focus groups. The inclusion criteria consisted of:
- Young people living in North or South Lombok between 15 and 25 years of age.
- Have provided consent personally or from a guardian if under 18 years.
- Were comfortable discussing the topic of young marriage.
- Attended session from LPA ‘forum anak’ program.
Data was collected through interactive focus groups, with two facilitators. One facilitator was English speaking the other was bilingual and assisted with translating. Due to the language barrier, and sensitive nature of the topic, group activities took place in smaller groups then engaged in discussion with the wider group. The justification for this was to keep participants engaged, mitigate the lack of disengagement due to the process of translating and helped participants feel more comfortable discussing topics in smaller groups with peers, before sharing ideas with the wider groups. The layout of the focus groups was split into two sections, firstly, commenced with, ‘get-to-know-you’ activities, participants were then asked, to outline their understanding of young marriage, health concerns related to young marriage, and causes of young marriage. In part two, participants were asked to outline hypothetical programs and ideas to reduce young marriage in their communities. All responses were shared with the wider group, where discussion and questions took place. Participants were given paper to visually present their ideas and use as another source of data for researchers. Each focus group was audio recorded, and notes were taken by facilitators. After each focus group, the facilitators debriefed.
After each focus group, the researcher reviewed notes and paper visuals from each group. The notes were collated, and data was exported into Excel. Once all focus groups were completed, data was compiled into Excel, the audio recordings were transcribed and added to the existing data by a researcher fluent in Indonesian and English and cross-checked before analysis. Data was organised into each topic linked to the research question; understanding, impacts, causes of young marriage and solutions and interventions. After the data was categorised for each topic, the data were thematically coded using open coding. The codes were cross-checked with the other researcher. Data was coded again and transferred into a visual representation of the findings to better understand the data and make sense of the findings.
Understanding of young marriage
Data from the focus groups determined that participants had a sound understanding of young marriage.
- “Child marriage is a marriage that is carried out at the age of a child, under 19 years” (group 4, day one)
- “Child marriage is performed by people under the age of 19 years” (group 2, day two)
While one group specifically linked the definition of child marriage to ‘Pergola bebas’ sex before marriage, suggesting a strong link between young marriage and ‘Pergola bebas’ (sex before marriage).
- “Definition of child marriage is underage marriage due to sex outside of marriage (Pergola bebas) that is carried out by teenagers” (group one, day 2)
This data demonstrated the alignment with the World Health Organisation (WHO) definition of young marriage “Child marriage refers to any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child” (WHO, 2018). Many participants highlighted that child marriage was a child under 19 and did not specify that it is still categorised as young marriage if one person is over 18 years.
| Figure 1. Causes of young marriage |
Various aspects of knowledge and education were highlighted by participants. Most commonly the lack of knowledge and education about the health impacts of young marriage. Participants also highlighted the lack of school education for young people and their parents, one participant linking the concept of education and culture that some parents and girls didn’t think they needed to get an education because girls would marry anyway:
- “Little school education and understanding of impacts of child marriage. Lack of religious knowledge, not following religion and Sasek culture correctly” (Group 2, day 2)
- “Lack of knowledge about the impact of child marriage… lack of education and socialization of the child, introvert child way of thinking is less open-minded, think [they have] no future, but to get married, influenced from family upbringing” (group two, day one)
Often, if parents have low levels of education so will their child. Alfafan, Said and Musa, (2022) outline that there is a relationship between parents who have low levels of education and cases of young marriage. Limited education and knowledge, particularly about young people’s reproductive health and healthy relationship can fundamentally limit young people’s capacity to make informed choices about their bodies and reproductive rights, such as delayed childbirth which can prevent young marriage (Bennett, 2014).
Stems from knowledge and education are the cultural beliefs and knowledge of Sasak Culture. Sasak are the indigenous inhabitants of Lombok; participants described the customary law of Sasak culture to be significant in young marriage.
- “The customary law simply applied to enforce marriage whenever they find a boy and a girl going out, and home late in the evening.” (group one, day one)
- “Cannot be out late with ‘pacar’ (boyfriend/girlfriend) after 9pm, otherwise need to marry because of customary law” (group one, day one)
Another group added, and outlined a story of the implications of Sasak culture:
- “late in the evening two people (boy and girl) returned from the prophet’s anniversary, he slept on the veranda because it was late and he didn’t want to ride home as his village was far. The village wanted them to marry because he stayed over. Parents reported to ‘forum anak’ advocacy and were able to prevent the child marriage” (group four, day one)
This hegemonic cultural practice has the potential to take away the rights of young people through the encouragement of marriage, due to young women being thought to be “too close”, or to have spent “too much time” with a ‘pacar’, or to have returned home “too late” from a date (Bennett, 2014). As the story above outlines, extremely damaging gossip can shame girls and their families, and pressure marriage prospects even if no ‘taboo’ behaviour has occurred. Participants outlined another story of innocent behaviour resulting in pressure to marry, simply by being out late with a boy.
- “Their was a girl in the evening getting medication from the pharmacy for her mother, she got a flat tire and two boys stopped to help her. Due to customary law was forced to marry due to bad perception, but the parental perceptions were able to challenge this” (group one, day one)
Luckily, parents had the knowledge and education to challenge customary law, although not all parents have the knowledge or capacity to do this. A participant from group one outlined that:
- “They [community] should have been managing it [customary law] case by case and considered the best interest of the children” (group one, day one)
The customary law has worse effects on young females, given the pressure to maintain virginity and female sexuality until marriage. Platt (2012) outlined, that Sasak women’s reputations inbound with virginity, and sexual misdemeanours can bring shame on the individual and family. The gender roles and perception of women and men in line with Sasak views can cause young marriage and are closely interconnected with intimate relationships of young people.
Participants described the relationship between family and ‘pacar’ (boyfriend or girlfriend) as an important factor. Culture and relationships are closely interconnected in Sasuk culture. Being out late with a ‘pacar’ could lead to marriage, as there is a perception that ‘Pergaulan Bebas’ (sex outside of marriage), has or could occur. Due to the strong religious and cultural nature of Lombok, to maintain the family name and female sexuality, parents and community can pressure young people to marry. Particularly, if a girl becomes pregnant, they are encouraged to marry to prevent children out of wedlock. Participants highlighted that lack of parental supervision leads to a more ‘free upbringing’ and ‘taboo’ behaviour.
- “Lack of parental supervision means that kids can go out at night and spend time with their “pacar” after 9pm, can risk the likelihood of pressure to marry [because of Sasuk Culture]… With less supervision kids can freely socialise and go out in the evening, risk of “Pergola bebas” (sex outside of marriage) … They [parents] insist to ask the child to do it [get married] even though the government has already banned child marriage” (group four, day one)
- “Less control from parents or grandparents results in kids having more freedom, like a free upbringing. Kids can do what they want and can get influenced in the wrong direction. This can lead to sex before marriage. If parents don’t support [children], it can lead to child marriage … Parents encourage them [children] to marry, because of culture and lack of education. Some parents think, if we send them to school, they will marry anyway, better to do it now” (group two, day one)
Participants believed the lack of parental support was closely related to “Pergola bebas”, although other participants outlined this lack of family support can push marriage, as teens felt closer to ‘pacar’:
- “From broken home [the children], they choose to marry young as have less support from family” (group three, day 2)
Additionally, participants outlined that unhealthy relationships and pressure from a partner to engage in “Pergola bebas” could lead to young girls’ experience of sexual violence:
- “Violence on dating, for example, a male in uni, female at school, pressure or blackmail to have sex. They say she doesn’t love him if she doesn’t have sex” (group one, day one)
- “Pergaulan bebas’ and premarital dating. Pressure from boys that if they don’t have it [sex] they will leave them or a sign she doesn’t love him. If sexually active and become pregnant it is a sin before marriage, therefore child marriage occurs. Most child marriage is due to pregnancy before marriage” (group three, day one).
- “Can get drunk and have sex, less control from parents and less supervision” (group three, day 2)
The implications of poor reproductive understanding and autonomy increase the likelihood of sexual violence (Bennett, 2014). Additionally, people who experience young marriage also have high rates of sexual violence (Malhotra & Elnakib, 2021). Relationships and their emotional and physical impacts can contribute to young marriage and are closely related to other causes of young marriage.
Economic
Economic factors are closely associated with education, young people may need to drop out of school due to economic implications that impact education:
- “In low-income families, parents can encourage kids to get married due to economic factors despite the fact they are children” (group two, day one)
The economic level of the family influences if they encourage their child to marry to reduce household costs, or if the child would have to drop out of school to work, which then increases marriage prospects.
- “Parents may encourage their kids to work to earn money due to family financial instability. Once they start to work there is less quality in education, increase risk of drop out and getting married” (group 4, day one)
Various other environmental factors were discussed including, little enforcement of child marriage law, and common practice of dispensation due to factors like pregnancy or Sasak culture. Dispensation is the exception for a male and female to marry if one or both parties are underage if they fulfil the requirements of the dispensation procedure determined by the applicable law (Judiasih, Rubiati, Yuanitasari, Salim, & Safira, 2020). Given the strong prevalence of religion and culture in Lombok, this can overshadow the law.
- “Lack of support from government to reduce child marriage and attention from the community” (group three, day two)
- “Enforce the law, child marriage is banned although can give dispensation which is a way to marry, they now allow dispensation to happen” (group three, day one)
The causes of young marriage are complex and multifaceted. Although the causes outlined by the participants from ‘forum anaks’ in Lombok outline a range of factors contributing to the young marriage. Demonstrating a sound understanding that ‘forum anak’ participant have on the causes related to young marriage.
“Child marriage was forced because of ’Pergaulan bebas’ (sex before marriage) and lack of parental supervision, parents didn’t allow them [daughter] to finish education due to economic factors. It was reported to ‘forum anak’, there was mediation between the parents and ‘forum anak’ advocates although failed, due to the family insisting they marry. ‘Forum anak’ and village intervention failed, and they got married. The marriage is not harmonious and there is violence” (group three, day one)
This story depicts the impacts of child marriage, particularly the unfair treatment of young females.
| Figure 2, Impact of Young Marriage |
Child marriage has detrimental impacts on the health, well-being and prospects of young people, and their families. Young marriage can impact the relationship between the young couple. Participants outlined that early marriage could lead to violence, relationship breakdown or divorce.
- “Dependence on husband, lack of confidence and skills for the wife. Builds reliance on husband. It can cause violence, physical and psychological” (group one, day one)
- “Increased risk of divorce, children are young and not mature enough to marry, cannot control emotions, as they are only children themselves and not matured… child abandonment, child neglect due to divorce, can lead to child exploitation, a child might have to work to look after grandparents or parents need to migrate” (group two, day one)
Due to the gender roles in Lombok, early marriage can lead to a dependence of the young wife towards the husband, due to limited capacity for financial earning or little self-autonomy. This power imbalance in relationships can increase the rate of intimate partner violence, which impacts the mental health and physical safety of the mother and child (John, Kapungu & Tadesse, 2022; WHO, 2018).
Health outcomes are stipulated as a common cause of young marriage, particularly pregnancy. Participants outline how young girls are not physically ready for childbirth which can result in reproductive health issues for the mother and child.
- “Womb struggles to deliver and give birth due to a mother being young and not developed, can die from delivery and malnutrition for the baby which can impact stunting” (group three, day two)
- “Increased risk of having a child with a disability, due to less developed reproductive health of the mother and lack of emotional stability of parents” (group two, day two)
Responses echo Malhotra and Elnakib (2021) findings on the effects of young marriage’s severe impact on females’ health, and behaviour. There is a direct correlation between child marriage and high rates of early pregnancy, and maternal and child mortality.
Early marriage impacts the level of education and earning capacity for the young couple, although women are often more disadvantaged in employment. However, if divorce does occur, it can be common to migrate for work, due to struggles with gaining employment in Lombok with little education and employment prospects. If the couple has children, these children often live with grandparents who may be too old to care for them, increasing the likelihood of poor supervision. This can then increase the chances of their children engaging in a young marriage, creating a cycle.
- “Divorce from parents some who experienced child marriage results in neglect, abandonment, and abuse, lots of parents migrate overseas to Malaysia or Saudi Arabia and leave the child with their grandparents, grandparents are older and have less capacity to look after them [children]” (group four, day one)
It is common for migrant workers to work in plantations or factories in Malaysia, or as construction workers or maids in the Middle East (ILO, 2013). Children whose parents migrate often experience psychological distress, for low in-income families these outcomes can be more severe such as high rates of infant mortality, domestic violence, early school leaving, child neglect, child abandonment and increased risk-taking behaviour (Beazley, Butt & Ball, 2018). Which as participants have stated, interconnects with many other factors of young marriage.
It is common for schooling to end alongside young marriage, ending education, and one’s ability to develop skills and gain suitable employment in the future (Rumble, Peterman, Irdiana, Triyana, & Minnick, 2018). Impacting economic stability for the young couple and their family.
- “Increase poverty, limited knowledge and education impact livelihood and earnings” (group two, day one).
- “Struggle to find a job, due to lack of skills and education” (group one, day two)
Education is impacted as girls often drop out of school to fulfil new household and wife responsibilities, which affects opportunities for career and educational advancement (UNICEF, 2022). This also adds pressure to the husband who is urged to seek employment, with little education and skills.
If a marriage is not in line with the Marriage law, it is classified as an unregistered marital status:
- “No access from government, don’t get a marriage book and children don’t have identity card” (group three, day one)
- “No marriage certificate, children are born without certificate. This makes it harder for identity card in the future and enrol in schools” (group four, day two)
This impacts the ability to get a family card and acquire support from the government and legal protection for husbands, wives and children born from the marriage (Prasetyawati, 2023). Without certification of marriage, the marriage is not valid, because the couple is underage, impacting access to government support.
Recommendations to reduce and prevent young marriage
Some may presume ‘forum anaks’ solving young marriage to be ambiguous. Yet, in line with the National Strategy to achieve the target of decreasing young marriages (UNFPA, 2020), the research incorporates the strategic focus of the National Strategy to enhance the capacity of young people. To foster young people to be agents of change, this research includes recommendations from young people themselves. They intend to use the recommendations to establish programs within their communities to instil the rights of children in Lombok and align with the Indonesian National Strategy to eradicate young marriage.
| Figure 3, Solutionfor young marriage |
More accessibility for people who have experienced young marriage
Programs and education to support people who have already experienced child marriage.
- “Make schools open for abandoned children, school dropouts, young widows and pregnancy out of wedlock.” (group 4, day 2),
- “Outreach to the community and young mothers about the quality of care for children, as children and adolescents are still weak and not qualified. This is identified as the main factor causing children’s vulnerability” (additional information).
While another group outlined:
- “Have more support for people who have experienced child marriage, or for children who have been successful in delaying child marriage. Social community aid does not cover yet what programme should be executed after the success of child marriage cancellation or ‘dibelas’ (separating the already married children)” (group four, day one)
Schools in Lombok do not enrol married or pregnant women, even though there is a national policy to allow pregnant women to attend school (Bennett, 2014). Focusing on the inclusion of young people who have experienced child marriage helps enhance the opportunity to further education and higher employment opportunities, attempting to prevent the cycle of young marriage.
Participants recommended health training to ‘forum anak’ advocates.
- “Training for ‘forum anak’ advocates, such as clinical skills and better mechanism to support people who experience child marriage or child abandonment” (group one, day one),
Enhance access to health services and education in schools and the community specifically on reproductive health and young marriage prevention.
In the community:
- “Health service to assess whether girls are pregnant or not, before they are forced to marry” (group three, day two)
- “Reproductive health socialization for children, adolescents, and the community. One of the most dominant causes of child marriage is pregnancy outside of marriage (unwanted pregnancy), so reproductive health education is very necessary. Increasing access to checking haemoglobin levels for teenagers through Family planning activities in the village. More than 75% of children and adolescents in Village do not access haemoglobin level checks at the family planning due to limited test kits and a mismatch of free time for children and adolescents with the Family planning schedule. Need a better-integrated service post: a designated place where females can gather to have regular monitoring” (additional information).
- “Increase community hubs through training to strengthen community capacity to prevent child marriage and promote reproductive health education. help children with special needs (disabilities) to access reproductive health education. So far, even today, reproductive health education for children and adolescents with disabilities has been neglected”(added information).
School-based programs
- “Development a movement to have all stakeholders and education bodies create a subject about child marriage at school to talk about solutions and ways to stop child marriage” (group three, day two).
- “Education initiatives that come to school and talk about child marriage. Institutions that come to the village to educate society in the village. Have an education program session every month in the village” (group three, day two).
Data supports these recommendations that education is a key component to prevent young marriage, delay childbirth and reduce the number of children (McCleary-Sills, Hanmer, Parsons, & Klugman, 2015). While Judiasih, et la (2020), outlines that having an active role in society is pivotal to rejecting practices and instil practices to eradicate young marriage in Indonesia.
Youth events and community programs
Capacity building and social support structures to enhance strengthening tactics are pillars of the National Strategy (Kementerian PPN, 2020). Participants exhibited youth events and community program solutions targeted to capacity building and development of social support structures.
- “Establish youth association in different ‘desa’, active participation of children focus on introvert able to explore ideas and strengthen capacity. The idea is that if children are engaged in activities won’t get involved in child marriage. Establish more ‘forum anaks’, to extend consultant and village initiative for youth advocacy and capacity” (group two, day one)
- “We wish there was an education program or seminar for adults and children. For children of Lombok to invite 1000 children to engage in activities to create a vision to uniform what to do to stop child marriage” (group three, day two)
- “Need a place and media for the child to play, need a place to learn for children to reduce falling into bad behaviour and keep them occupied. LPA can come to villages to educate and come regularly to continue to educate on child marriage prevention” (group two, day two)
- “Increase literature rate and knowledge by reading to educate about life outside of the village. Educate about toxic friends, good and bad behaviour. Kids must be more confident, not to be friends with ‘toxic friends’ to try and educate them [toxic friends] but don’t cave to peer pressure” (group three, day two)
‘Forum anak’ and peer education programs enable members to share more personal information and support positive gender socialization through puberty, and education to create an opportunity to discuss factors that influence young marriage and their own health and safety (Tisdall & Cuevas-Parra, 2020). To give young people power and autonomy to instil such programs, enhance capacity building and transfers power and knowledge to adolescents to be active agents of change to prevent young marriage for themselves and their peers from a grassroots bottom-up approach.
Programs unrelated to child marriage
Participants highlighted the need for prevention through the mode of entertainment and engagement of young people. Recommending programs unrelated to young marriage and rather towards learning and community engagement as a first step of prevention, to reduce the desire for at-risk behaviour:
- “Develop learning containers and children’s playgrounds. Space for creativity and a place for children’s growth and development has not become the attention of the village government and local government. Because it is considered that the place and space for children’s creativity can contribute to the resources and capacities of children/youth” (additional information)
- “Form a child committee where kids can express hobbies and talents to get more out of their hobbies/skills, to gain employment later or to develop skills. Forum Anak to increase activities that bond the kids in the desa (village)” (group one, day 2)
- “Create a car library for each sub-village, then kids can play gain knowledge and read books to increase interest. Car library aimed to increase knowledge and distract kids from phones, they can get dates from their phones. Instead, the activity of reading takes up time. The car can come to different locations once a week and have workshops for children, once a month kids can stimulate thought and can practice confidence, sharing what they read so they can grow their self-confidence” (group two, day two)
- “Increase literacy interest, create theatre show for ‘forum anak’ to act on and people can watch and increase interest in art and literature” (group three, day two)
- “Foreign language, learn for free, provide a reading spot to broaden knowledge and use time more effectively to avoid falling into bad behaviour” (Group one, day two)
Establish a mechanism for accurate data collection to have accurate data on young marriage.
Technology as a mode to prevent child marriage. Participants recommended the development of a database to track accurate data.
- “Develop data based on school dropout and child abandonment, maximise reporting provide training to sub-villages on how to collect the data. From this data develop a follow-up program based on the data, work with case managers from forum anaks” (group one, day one)
- “Develop a database of dropout children and abandoned children” (group two, day one)
- “Have database, the number of pregnancies not confirmed could be more, what is predicted and what is in the village is more “(group 3, day one)
The accurate collection of data, on young marriage, school dropout, pregnancy and other related health issues allows for more to be done about health issues and to understand the severity of the problem.
Discussion and action
The rate of young marriage in Lombok is unacceptable and negatively impacts children and young people’s rights. Initiatives at the macro, meso and micro levels have already been implemented to work with the national strategy and eradicate child marriage, although more is required. Data from ‘forum anak’ participants demonstrated that young people from these groups have a high level of understanding of young marriage. The causes that influence young marriage; health, and various social impacts; and able to determine effective solutions to reduce child marriage in their communities. ‘Forum anak’ members have the capacity to think critically, with much of the data from participants linked to the literature. The number of participants is only a small per cent of the population in Lombok and cannot be generalised. Although this research provides prospects there is a bright generation of young people, that can help reduce young marriage.
In line with the pillars of the national strategy and to ensure all children can exercise their rights in Lombok, we would like to request funding to resume consultation with ‘forum anak’ programs to continue scoping and expanding these recommendations to execute solutions using a rights-based method and participatory approach. The proposed program will utilise the network and programs pre-existing in Lombok to enhance and develop ‘forum anak’ participants’ recommendations. Funding would allow LPA to continue to scope the ideas and empower participants to bring programs to life. The goal is to work as facilitators to enable young people to take charge of their future by supporting them to establish a community-based program from these recommendations. The funding will allow scoping to take place, determine the details and establish pilot programs. While simultaneously, enhancing the capacity of participants, and young people in their wider community, empowering young people and reducing young marriage. The table below outlines the various programs for funding, we would like to request additional funding to work closely with each ‘forum anak’ program to exchange initiatives and ideas to expand and focus on specific areas and ensure long-term sustainability. The goal of this program is to work closely with the community using a participatory approach to enhance community capacity and empowerment.
| Young Marriage Prevention (YMP) | ||||||
| Further community consultation to ensure human rights approach and participatory action | ||||||
| Community program | Capacity building | System enhancement | ||||
| Inclusion of people with lived experience of young marriage | Health training and access | Youth events and community programs | Programs unrelated to young marriage | Technology for database | Integration of health services | |
| More accessible education and support programs for people with lived experience of young marriage | Community based programs | School based programs | Lombok wide youth-based forum. Develop ideas and programs for YMP with young people from all over Lombok | Car library, or places for kids to enhance learning in the community | Establish a mechanism or technology for accurate data collection | Better schedule for health access for young people, and young mothers. Particularly for family planning and women’s health clinics |
| Enable education programs and community support group | Expand ‘forum anak’ program and provide more training to members and leaders of ‘forum anak’ | Collaborate with schools and ministry to develop school subject to enhance YMP | Provide training for accurate data collection | |||
| Reproductive health socialisation for young people and people with disability | Have monthly education programs for schools | Establish youth association in village | Foreign language lessons. To enhance job prospects in the future and enhance skills | Develop programs based on the needs from accurate data collection | More staff at health services and within the community for community outreach | |
| Outcome | ||||||
| Enhance network of support for people who are often isolated from young marriage. Enable access to education and enhance employment opportunities | Enhance capacity of community through ‘forum anak’ program and socialisation program. So, community have the capacity to make more informed choices | Regular and monthly programs, maintaining contact with young people and consistent education through school programs to reduce YPM | Enable young people to have more agency and capacity to take action to reduce YPM | By focusing on pre-prevention programs, the aim is to reduce the likelihood of at-risk behaviour and encourage community support to young people | Accurate data on pregnancy, school dropout, cases of violence, child abandonment and other related health issues to understand severity of problem and focus on target area | Enhanced access to health services, reduce pregnancy, more regular health check-ups and enhanced women’s health access |
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