Efforts to combat child marriage

In recent years, Phan Lam commune, Bac Binh district has been one of the “hot spots” for child marriage. Faced with this situation, the Party Committee and the government of Phan Lam commune have made efforts to implement many synchronous measures to push back child marriage and improve the quality of life of the people…

Phan Lam is a highland commune with a pure ethnic minority population of Bac Binh district. The whole commune has 645 households/2,648 people, the socio -economic situation, security and order are stable, but in recent years, the situation of early marriage and consanguineous marriage is still a burning issue of the commune. However, with the strong determination of the local Party Committee and government to push back the problem, up to now, the above situation has tended to decrease and people's awareness is increasingly raised.

17 years old D has given birth and is putting the baby to sleep.

Accordingly, in 2021, Phan Lam commune had 8 couples of child marriage, in 2022 it decreased to 4 couples and from the beginning of 2023 until now, the locality recorded only 2 couples. Mr. Khe Luan Luu, in charge of population work at Phan Lam Commune Health Station, said that from the beginning of 2023 until now, Phan Lam has 2 couples of child marriage with both men and women under the legal age of marriage, but no incestuous marriages occurred.

Both couples met each other while working far away, not in the commune. After discovering they were pregnant, they returned to their hometown... “Early marriages often occur in families where children drop out of school early due to difficult circumstances, go to work far away and then get to know each other... We often coordinate with families to propagate the harmful effects of early marriage and early childbirth. But that is only from one side of the parents, it is very difficult to reach the children when they are not in the area,” Mr. Khe Luan Luu added.

Although it still happens, it can be noted that, through regular propaganda measures, following the motto "slow and steady wins the race" has helped Phan Lam significantly reduce early marriage compared to neighboring communes. This locality is well aware that early marriage and incestuous marriage will leave serious consequences, affecting the physical health of children. Especially for girls who are not yet adults, their bodies are not fully developed, so having sex, getting pregnant and giving birth early will affect their health, intelligence, spirit, leaving serious sequelae, premature birth, low birth weight, and even death in some cases. Being a mother at a young age without enough awareness and knowledge of child rearing causes children to be malnourished, stunted, and susceptible to disease, affecting the quality of the population. Incestuous marriage also reduces health, increases the rate of disease, and causes degradation in the quality of the race...

Mr. Xich Hoang Tuan, a Justice - Civil Status officer of Phan Lam commune, shared that since the beginning of the year, departments, branches, and organizations including the justice, women's union, and population officers of the commune health station have continuously coordinated to propagate about early marriage and consanguineous marriage, domestic violence, gender equality, family planning, etc. in the community. The methods of propaganda, both on loudspeakers and directly to counselors' homes or integrated into village meetings, have gradually brought about effectiveness.

However, due to the difficult life of the local people and limited education level, awareness of the law and the serious consequences of early marriage and incestuous marriage is limited. In addition, due to the influence of the custom of having to marry to continue the family line; parents want their children to have a husband or wife early to have more workers in the family...

Mr. Mang Nhu - Chairman of Phan Lam Commune People's Committee said that in order to reduce child marriage, in recent times, local Party committees and authorities have directed departments, branches and organizations to focus on disseminating legal regulations on child marriage and consanguineous marriage. In particular, promoting the role of grassroots cadres in disseminating information to raise awareness among families and individuals in implementing the Law on Marriage and Family, the Law on Gender Equality and other State policies. When detecting cases of law violations such as child marriage and consanguineous marriage, we will resolutely handle them. "Every year, the locality summarizes and rewards organizations and individuals who do a good job in preventing and repelling child marriage and consanguineous marriage to evaluate, thereby creating a basis for good implementation in the following years," Mr. Nhu added.

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