Muslim Child Marriage in Indonesia: Protecting Child Right Versus Preventing Zina and Preserving Offspring

This paper examines child marriage in Indonesia, focusing on the tension between protecting children's rights and religious arguments for permitting early marriage to prevent premarital sexual relations and preserve lineage. The study critiques religious courts for easily granting marriage dispensations and argues that child marriage is not an effective way to prevent premarital sexual activity. The author concludes that while marriage following adolescent pregnancy may be justified to protect the child's lineage, such marriages should be able to be cancelled or dissolved if they harm the child.

Key points

• Religious courts in Indonesia are accused of facilitating child marriage through lenient dispensation rulings
• Two conflicting positions exist: one rejecting child marriage entirely to protect child rights, another allowing it to prevent premarital sexual relations and preserve offspring
• Child marriage is not an effective strategy to prevent zina (premarital sexual activity) because children are not physically or developmentally ready for sexual intercourse or pregnancy
• Permitting child marriage to prevent zina violates religious norms and constitutes violence against children
• Marriage following adolescent pregnancy may be justified to protect the unborn child's lineage, but should be cancellable if harmful to the child

Limitations

This paper presents a conceptual and legal analysis rather than empirical research, so it cannot provide data on the prevalence of child marriage in Indonesia, the actual outcomes for children in such marriages, or the frequency of courts granting dispensations. It does not evaluate interventions or provide quantitative evidence on the harms or benefits of different policy approaches.