Stop Early Marriage! UNDIP Community Service Students Conduct Counseling on Preventing Early Marriage

Kalirejo Village, Pekalongan (24/7/2023) – Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that 33.76% of youth in Indonesia will record their first marriage age in the range of 19-21 years in 2022. Child marriage is still rife until now. Komnas Perempuan noted that throughout 2021, there were 59,709 cases of early marriage that were granted dispensations by the courts. Even though there was a slight decrease compared to 2020, namely 64,211 cases, this figure is still very high compared to 2019, which amounted to 23,126 child marriages. Early marriage is a marriage contract that is held at an age below the appropriateness of the applicable rules. Early marriage occurs due to several factors, including economic factors, low education, culture or traditions, mass media, and environment. In addition, early marriage also has a negative impact, such as on the aspect of education, children who marry early will generally stop continuing their education. The economic aspect often creates a new cycle of poverty. Health aspects can endanger the health of the expectant mother, pregnancy too early can cause complications in the mother’s body, and the mother and baby are vulnerable to death. The high number of early marriages in Indonesia indicates the need for preventive and repressive measures. The challenge to reduce early marriage is the responsibility of all Indonesian people. Efforts are needed from both the central and regional governments to overcome this.

Materials explained include early marriage, an ideal age for marriage, regulations regarding the age at which marriage is permitted according to applicable law, facts about early marriage, factors affecting early marriage in Indonesia, and health impacts as well as an invitation to stop early marriage. . After the counseling session was over, Undip KKN TIM II students gave posters containing brief information about early marriage, the ideal age for marriage according to the BKKBN, regulations governing the age permissible for marriage for men and women, facts about early marriage in Indonesia and invitations to prevent early marriage to the school to be affixed in the school environment so that high school students are able to better understand the importance of avoiding the dangers of drugs, so that it is hoped that students can stay away from drugs and can become a smart, superior and quality generation.