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Engagement of minor in Madura renews call to end child marriage
The tradition, known as abekalan, has been practiced for generations in the predominantly Muslim region of Madura, with the supposed intention of protecting children from extra-marital sex, as well as to strengthen relationships between families.
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What children want: A girl unfurls a poster calling for an end to child marriage during the International Women’s Day commemoration in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on March 8, 2020. (Antara/Arnas Padda)
T
he recent engagement of a 12 year-old girl to a widower with one child in Madura Island, East Java, has sparked fresh calls from the public to end child marriage, which remains rampant in Indonesia.
A viral video circulated across different online platforms showed that the betrothal was celebrated by inviting neighbors to a feast at the home of the prospective “bride”. Upon arriving, the guests congratulated the girl and gave her money as gifts for entering the next stage in her life.
The video was met with outrage from netizens who said the girl should be going to school instead. Some acknowledged the engagement of minors in Madura was a local tradition, but they demanded it be brought to an end.
Khoirul Rosyadi, professor of sociology at Trunojoyo Madura University, said the tradition, known as abekalan, had been practiced for generations in the predominantly Muslim region of Madura, with the supposed intention of protecting children from extra-marital sex, as well as to strengthen relationships between families.
Financial problems are also one of the causal factors of the rampant marriage of minors in Madura, and across the country. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has cited Indonesia as the fourth-biggest contributor to child marriages globally, with more than 25 million cases.
Read also: Indonesia still decades away from ending child marriage: UNICEF
Khoirul noted that the trend had been declining over the years as more families became aware of the importance of education for their offspring. This claim is supported by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data that show the decreasing prevalence of child brides in Indonesia from 12 percent in 2015 to 8 percent in 2022.
