Protect Children from Child Marriage Digital Campaigns

The Indonesian Parliament (DPR RI) in collaboration with BAKTI Kominfo held a Webinar "Protecting Children from the Digital Child Marriage Campaign" on Monday, March 8, 2021. This webinar presents Member of Commission I DPR RI Christina Aryani, Special Staff of the Minister of Communication and Information Technology for Digital Transformation and Inter-Institutional Relations R. Niken Widiastuti and Child Protection Team Leader of Wahana Visi Indonesia Emmy Lucy Smith.

This webinar was held in response to the phenomenon of early marriage campaigns that had appeared on social media. About 200 representatives of children and teachers from various schools in Jakarta participated in this webinar.

Christina said, based on data from the 2018 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas), as many as 1.2 million (11.2%) women aged 20-24 years were married at the age of children (less than 18 years). "There are 2 patterns of child marriage that occur in Indonesia, namely girls are married to men, then girls are married to boys," said Christina.

Based on data from the Ministry of Women and Children Empowerment in 2020, economic problems are the biggest factor in child marriage, which is followed by local cultural customs, low education of parents and children, lack of access to reproductive health information, and promiscuity. The social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which has been taking place since early 2020 has become a new factor in the occurrence of child marriage.

The Indonesian Child Protection Commission found that 119 students (aged 15-18 years) were married during the distance learning process. The trigger is the increasing use of the internet by children plus the lack of parental supervision. As a result, children are exposed to digital campaigns and eventually fall into wrong associations.

For this reason, the government and the Indonesian Parliament have made efforts to prevent child marriage by revising the Child Marriage Law by increasing the age limit for women to marry, then regulating the obligations of parents to prevent child marriage. Also, currently, it has entered into the national legislation program on the Bill on the Elimination of Sexual Violence.

Niken acknowledged that preventing child marriage in Indonesia is still homework to be done, collaboration of all parties, government, society, and community is the key to effective child marriage prevention. The government is targeting no more child marriages by 2030.

"Kominfo continues to carry out literacy through social media and various digital activities. Also, we limit social media accounts or digital media that promote early marriage, "said Niken.

Wahana Visi Indonesia, said Emmy, is also committed to child protection, including socialization and education on child marriage prevention. "Child marriage threatens the fulfillment of children's rights, from education, physical, mental, and sexual health, to increasing the social and economic risks children must face," he said.

Written by: Amanda Putri, Media Relations Executive of Wahana Visi Indonesia