T

he Religious Affairs Ministry urged the House of Representatives on Thursday to revise the 1974 Marriage Law to prevent child marriage.

The ministry’s Islam development director general, Muhammad Machasin, said that the revision should focus on the minimum age of marriage stipulated in the law, which is currently 19 years for males and 16 years for females.

“The problem with the age requirement is that lawmakers have stipulated the minimum age by looking only at physical aspects, not mental. Most of the time, that is not enough to determine someone’s maturity,” Machasin said after a book launch about Child Marriage by NGO Rumah Kita Bersama (Our House).

The NGO’s director, Lies Marcoes-Natsir, voiced the same concerns. “You cannot call someone at the age of 16 an adult. Our [marriage] law should refer to a concept of maturity based on mental development, not merely physical,” Lies said.

The 2002 Child Protection Law states that a child is a person under 18 years of age, including those who are still in the womb. The UN’s 2003 agenda for sustainable development also states that child, early and forced marriage should all be eliminated.