Underage Marriage: How Does it Effect The Youth's Health?

The first case of Covid-19 in Indonesia was detected on March 2nd, 2020. Following the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Indonesian government issued a regulation known as PSBB, which requires citizens to stay at home. As a result of the circumstances, many Indonesian residents have been laid off from their jobs in order to save money. All schools were closed, and students were asked to stay at home and complete their studies through the internet. 

Not only schools, but also weddings, graduations, and other ceremonies were postponed or held completely online. (Nurhanisa, 2020) There was an increase in the number of marriages in Indonesia not long after the PSBB regulation was implemented. The number of marriages that has increased also includes the number of children under age marrying. (UNPAD, 2020)

One of the reasons why the number of underage marriages has increased since the pandemic is that many parents have lost their jobs and are no longer capable of paying for their children's living expenses. 

As a result, they believe that by allowing their child to marry an older man or someone from a wealthier family will reduce their living expenses because their child will be in someone else's care. Besides parent's will to let go of their children, one of the factors to the increasing number of underage marriages is unwed pregnancy. With Indonesia's culture, unwed marriage are considered to be a taboo therefore children who are involved in free sex that leads to unwed pregnancy must immediately be wed. (Indanah, 2020)

Underage marriage is now a well talked about topic and there is a law that acts to prevent it, according to the Indonesian law, before 2020 there was a law that stated that the minimum age for marriage is 16 for female and 19 for male but it is recently revised into UU No.16 year 2019 that is recently validated in October 2019, that stated, the minimum age for marriage in Indonesia is 19 years old for both male and female. (Permatasari, 2021) Although there is a law to prevent underage marriage from happening, the religious court in Indonesia has been giving a lot of dispensation to the cases. (Nurtjahyo, 2020) It is confirmed that even after the law is revised and is considered to be firmer, the number of underage marriage cases that are being given exemption has been recorded to reach 97% and 60% of those cases are children under the age of 18 years old. (Ridhoi,2020) The question is, how is marrying young effecting the youth of this country in terms of reproductive health? According to Kumalasari there are a lot of health risk that is caused by someone who marries underage.

Specifically for the underage bride, most cases consists of the female's reproductive organs are not ready to accept pregnancy so they can cause various complications to the pregnant mother. Those complications may or may not cause death which in most cases the mother dies in labor due to complications which includes anemia or hyperemesis which also raises the number of maternal mortality (AKI). Moreover, other than anemia and hyperemesis, early pregnancy may cause cervical cancer to young mothers who has under develop reproduction system, this is caused by the unpreparedness of the cervix to deliver a baby. (Mulyaningsih, 2020) Not only does it affect the mother, it also effects the unborn baby.

 It is known that early pregnancy usually is in line with the lack of nutrition therefore causing the babies that are born from underage mother to die in labor or is born with several complications and sickness.

Study has shown that babies that are born from an underage parent usually has a lower weight than an average healthy baby (BBLR) which in most cases, BBLR happened when the mother is under the age of 20 years old. 

Other than BBLR most children that are born under complications may have disabilities cause by the mother's weak and under developed cervix and it is possible for the baby to develop deadly sicknesses causing the babies to have a short age. (Sangaji, 2020) According to the health minister (KEMENKES) the number of babies that die in labor from an underage parent is 30%, and the number for the underage mothers that die during labor is also 30% which shows that underage parent dies with their baby in the process of deliverance. (Puspasari, 2020)

In conclusion, The best solution that could be given at the moment is for the government spread out education on the matter of underage marriage. In my opinion, in this current state, Indonesian society is not aware of the danger that underage marriage may bring to our future generations and how it may affect their reproductive health and mental health. If citizens of Indonesia especially those who live in rural areas stop having a mindset that presume child marriage is normal, the culture for underage marriage in Indonesia could be stop for good which will give a positive impact to lower the number of maternal mortality and create a safer environment for children to grow up without having to think about marriage and pregnancy at such a young age. Not only from the government, but until parents also stop giving their children permission to marry before the legal age of marriage, the cases will still continue because the court will always put the parents' permission and situation into consideration regardless of the law that is available in Indonesia.