Proudly announcing his full blessing, Arifin said he married off his child to protect him from harm in the world and after life. On his official Facebook account, Arifin said “with marriage, Alvin could be more focused on tafaqquhu fiddiini [studying Islam]”.

Alvin’s case is not a one-off. Early marriages are prevalent in Indonesia, influenced by the adherence to religious beliefs and socio-economic aspects. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded the percentage of Indonesian children, especially women, who get married before reaching their 18th birthday at 23 percent in 2015.

The 1974 Marriage Law sets the minimum age of marriage for females at 16 years, and 19 years for males. Alvin must first obtain a marriage dispensation from the Cibinong Religious Court because he is considered underage.

Indonesia Planned Parenthood Association (PKBI) member Frenia Nababan said early marriages should not be seen as a favored way to avoid pre-marital sex because it could dismiss a reality at its core—child marriages constituted sexual relations with or among children.

“Early marriage is merely seen as the best option to protect children from committing adultery or pre-marital sex. Marriage, however, is not all about sex,” Frenia told The Jakarta Post.

As a result, she said, the conventional wisdom was that the younger the men decided to marry, the more responsible he would seem to be in the eye of the public although this might not be the case.

Read also: Early marriage campaign gains ground

For girls, early marriages are often used as a strategy to reduce household economic burdens. “There are many things one should consider before he or she enters a marriage, such as their mental and physical readiness, earning capacity and their capability to raise children,” said Frenia.

She said child marriages were closely linked to poverty.  Girls who were married as children tend to be school dropouts, limiting their employment opportunities. They were also prone to complications during pregnancy and labor. “These will hamper the country’s efforts to achieve quality human resources,” said Frenia.

The PKBI is part of the Indonesian Coalition to End Child Marriage (Koalisi 18+), a social movement that aims to stop child marriage and the forced marriage of young people. Last year, Koalisi 18+ filed a judicial review against the 1974 Marriage Law, requesting the government to increase the minimum age of marriage to 18 for females. The Constitutional Court rejected the request in a hearing in June 2015.

The coalition would continue to advocate and raise awareness against child marriages and forced marriages despite the disappointing result, Frenia said.

Meanwhile, the National Family Planning and Population Agency (BKKBN) is of the opinion that the minimum age of marriage for females should be 21. It says, according to health aspects, a woman will be physically and mentally ready at 21 while the minimum age for a man should be 25.

Clinical and forensic psychologist Kassandra Putranto said mental and social immaturity within child marriages would impact the quality of a family.

She said teenage brains were wired uniquely, in which the prefrontal cortex, or the control part of the brain, was still immature. Whereas, part of the brain that sought pleasure and reward, tended to be more developed.

This was why, Kassandra said, parents had a duty to assist their children in making the best decisions for their future. (ebf)

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