JAKARTA - The Commission for the Protection of Indonesian Children (KPAI) has expressed concerns about the high number of marriages involving underage children. According to the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) some one third of all marriages taking place in Indonesia each year involve at least one person that is under the age of 18.
The province of East Java reported an even higher figure than average with 39 percent. "What gets reported by the media is just the tip of the iceberg," said the head of the commission, Hadi Supeno. "In most cases early marriage is not a voluntary choice. The young people have no other option as poverty has denied them access to schools or vocational institutions," Hadi said.
Many parents think that marriage will change the situation they find themselves in. Vice-president of the Indonesian Council of Islamic Scholars (MUI), Aisyah Aminy, said that that people around the teenagers, including religious figures and people from their own community, encourage marriages under the age of 18. "Those people encourage early marriage by saying that it is not against religious norms and that it will prevent adultery," she said.
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JAKARTA - The Commission for the Protection of Indonesian Children (KPAI) has expressed concerns about the high number of marriages involving underage children. According to the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) some one third of all marriages taking place in Indonesia each year involve at least one person that is under the age of 18.
