Malang Regency faces the problem of a relatively high rate of early marriage. Although there is a downward trend in cases, the number is still relatively high. Population control and family planning data reported 6,425 cases in 2016 and 4,272 in 2017. According to data from the Malang Religious Court, there were 847 marriage dispensations in 2018, 9,172 in 2019, and 1,270 in 2020. In 2021, marital dispensation issued by The Malang Religious Court reported 1,726 cases. Although there is a national policy (regulation) to increase the age of marriage (from 16 to 19 years for women), studies have found that this regulation increases the number of people seeking dispensation. In addition, studies from secondary data found that early marriage is due to various reasons, such as unwanted pregnancy and unhealthy relationships (sex before marriage).
The poverty rate in semi-urban areas of Malang is indicated by the conversion of agricultural land into settlements or other public facilities. In Singosari and Karangploso, the target location of the programme, the poverty is in line with the rapid development of infrastructure and tourism, and caused the number of agricultural land conversions into roads and rest areas. The RUMPUN’s study found that farmers divert their work to other informal sectors of construction from inside or outside the village with uncertain income.
One of the multidimensional poverty can be seen in the cases of dropping out of school, especially for girls who get married and then have to drop out of school (mostly at the junior high school level or at the age of 15) and are responsible for household work, while boys from low-income families will get jobs. to earn low incomes because they have low skills (they are mostly high school dropouts at the age of 16 – 18 years). After marriage, they live with the daughter’s parents. Because they are young, they are less involved in social activities. Due to economic reasons and a lack of ability to manage the household, in many cases, married girls experience domestic violence from their husbands. So that they are increasingly isolated at home (because of the negative community’s stigma) they are trapped in a worse situation at home.
In another fact, Indonesia is facing a population dividend. The roles of youth groups are essential by opening access to enhance their capacity. Today, the level of participation of female youth is still limited due to economic, social, and cultural barriers. In many cases, they tend to have low access to capacity building and room to improve their self-esteem to engage with public dialogues of development that emphasize their aspirations and interests.
With financial support from the Ireland Embassy for Indonesia in Jakarta under the ICMPS (In-Country Micro-Projects Scheme of Irish Aid), of a total € 11,000 for a six-month duration, RUMPUN will organize and increase the capacity of female youth to strengthen their leadership in actions to prevent early marriages. Based on field assessment, RUMPUN implements the programme in the Tawangargo and Langlang villages of Malang Regency, with 50 female youth participants.
RUMPUN has facilitated the formation of youth groups as a forum for capacity building as the initial phase. Groups have the structure of board and roles, identify their aspiration, and map out their and other female youth situation within their villages and strategies to make any changes. There would be many more themes to discuss, and actions to take are upcoming.