Legal Protection of Underage Women In Early Marriage

Abstract

Early marriage is defined as a marriage of a boy and a girl under nineteen years of age. The marriage is done by the immature couple who do not understand the purpose in marriage. The rise of cases of early marriage in Indonesia is due to the actions of some parents. The methodology used in this research is the normative method is based on legal norms, legal rules, legal theories, and legal opinions. The marriage committed by minors, they arrange the early marriage of their children because of some factors and it usually happens to the girls. One of the causes of this matter to a girl is economic factor. It occurs because the condition of underprivileged family of the girl that makes the parents decide to marry her with a rich man. The effect of early marriage particularly on girls is on their reproductive health. The underage girls who have immature of reproductive system are not ready for having sex and getting pregnant. In addition, the government has not yet given strict sanctions for children who have had marriages and it causes the improvement of cases of children having marriages. To decrease these cases and provide a protection for children, the government has renewed the regulation of the minimum age limit for marriage both for men and women is over nineteen years old.