Indonesians Seeking To Raise Minimum Age For Girls To Get Married

By Azeman Ariffin JAKARTA, June 24 (Bernama) -- What is the ideal age for a girl to tie the knot? A debate on this issue is raging in Indonesia, following calls for a review of the nation's archaic marriage law. In Indonesia, the legal age for a girl to get marriage is 16 and boy, 19, as provided for under Law No.1 of 1974 on Marriage (Marriage Law). Recently, the Foundation for the Oversight of Children, various women's organisations and several individuals had submitted a petition for a judicial review of the Marriage Law, which sought to raise the legal age for women to get married to 18. The petitioners said this was to prevent teenagers from dropping out of school and ensure the nation has enough professionals in its workforce. Their petition was forwarded to the Constitutional Court, which hears cases pertaining to the nation's constitution, but it was rejected on the grounds that the court did not have the power to review Clause 7 subsection (1) of the 1974 Marriage Law, which dealt with the minimum age for marriage. Head of the Constitutional Court Arief Hidayat said his court could not raise the minimum age to 18 as only the legal authorities had the power to do so. He explained that the age limit was not a constitutional issue but more of an administrative one and, hence, it was more appropriate for the petition to raise the legal age for marriage to be submitted to the President or the House of Representatives, which has the authority to formulate laws. Arief said the eight judges who had studied the petition concluded that the determination of the minimum age for marriage constituted an "open legal policy" and, as such, the court could not set the age for a person to get married as it was something for the lawmakers to decide. A local newspaper quoted former Constitutional Court judge Maruarar Siahaan as saying that he too agreed with the petitioners that the age should be raised to 18. He said the 1974 Marriage Law should be reviewed due to changes in society's paradigm. "The minimum age of 16 (for girls to get married) was reflective of the old way of thinking. It would have been pleasant news if the Constitutional Court had increased the age to 18," he said. Maruarar said the court should have been more "progressive" in its consideration of the petition because under the 2004 Child Protection Law, a child was defined as an "individual who has not attained 18 years of age". As such, he pointed out, girls below 18 should not be allowed to get married as they were categorised as children. Based on a study carried out this year by Universitas Indonesia's Centre for Gender and Sexuality Studies, it was found that two million out of Indonesia's seven million girls aged below 15 were married and illiterate, making it the nation with the second highest number of underage married girls in Southeast Asia. National Population and Family Planning Board head, Surya Chandra Surapaty, said according to a demography and health study carried out in 2012, 48 out of 1,000 girls aged between 15 and 19 already have children. He described this trend as unhealthy for the republic, adding that early pregnancies could increase the risk of uterine cancer. A dean from Universitas Diponegoro, Suteki, said the time has come for a review of the laws pertaining to marriage because any person intending to get married should have the maturity and ability to take care of a family. Suteki said the Marriage Law was enacted in 1974 when many Indonesians wanted their children to start working at an early age to supplement the family's income, and 16 was regarded as an appropriate age for girls to tie the knot. However, times have changed and 16-year-olds are psychologically not ready to assume the responsibilities of a wife and mother. -- BERNAMA