Child Marriage
Rembang, Central Java. It is ironic that Rembang, a city in Central Java where Indonesian national heroine and pioneer of women empowerment Raden Ayu Kartini is buried, has gained notoriety for being a hotbed of child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
The city drew the attention of Jakarta-based Credos Institute, which conducted a survey in four of its villages – Woro, Sendangmulyo, Menoro and Mojosari – last year.
Hundreds of people spanning at least three generations responded to the survey, which the organization carried out to produce data on the alarming trends of child marriage and teenage pregnancy in the city.
Findings from the survey highlighted that more than half of the female respondents aged between 12-24 years old said they were pregnant before they turned 20, while 43.6 percent of married female respondents in the same age group said they were married before their 18th birthday.
The Jakarta Globe visited the four villages, located on the northern coast of Central Java, last Thursday (01/03) and talked to several teenagers who had recently married.
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