Warning of early marriage and incestuous marriage in Western Nghe An

(Baonghean) - Child marriage, consanguineous marriage and gender imbalance are hindering the development and population quality of Con Cuong district. Therefore, the district has developed a project "Intervention to reduce child marriage, consanguineous marriage and gender imbalance at birth in the period 2017 - 2022".

"Sad Lullaby" in the village

At the age of 19, Le Thi Thao in Bung village, Mon Son commune (Con Cuong) has been a mother for 3 years. Sadly, Thao's son has entered kindergarten but still cannot speak. Looking at her son, Thao often holds back her tears, but because of the long distance and the poor family situation, she has put off the boy many times but he has not been examined even once.

As the Head of the Pung Village Women's Association, Ms. Le Thi Lap said: "The fact that Thao's son cannot speak is not a "coincidence" but is most likely due to the consequences of incestuous marriage.

Thao is not the only case in Bung village where “uncle and niece” in a family get married, there are many other cases. Ms. Lap shared more: “We have also been trained and propagandized to the people, but it is very difficult to change. Some people even say “the way the parents were in the past, the children are still like that now…”.

People of Con Cuong district listen and learn about population policy. Photo: My Ha

Bung village and Co Phat village (Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district) are home to the Dan Lai ethnic group. These are also two villages that live separately from the people in the region due to geographical conditions and customs left over from hundreds of years ago. Currently, the village has only two families, Le and La, so it is common for people in the same village and brothers in the same family to marry each other.

Mr. Luong Viet Tung - Chairman of the People's Committee of Mon Son commune added: "From 2011 to now, the whole commune has had nearly 90 cases of child marriage, mainly children of the Dan Lai ethnic group. Many students, who had just finished secondary school, dropped out of school to get married and did not register their marriage."

Working with the Center for Population - Family Planning of Con Cuong district, it is known that: Currently, the situation of child marriage in the area is happening more and more and includes children of well-off and favorable families. Specifically, if in the period 2008 - 2010, the number of child marriage couples in the whole district was 11 couples, then in the period 2011 - 2015 it was 61 couples.

The above number was shortened when in 2016 alone there were 41 couples of child marriage and in the first 6 months of 2017 there were 28 couples. The underlying cause of the problem of child marriage is due to the limited level of education of the people, lack of information and propaganda, limited awareness and understanding, and lack of intervention from local authorities.

Life of Dan Lai people (Con Cuong). Photo: My Ha

In addition to early marriage and incestuous marriage, the gender imbalance rate is also on the rise. According to statistics, 7 years ago the district's sex ratio at birth was 118 males/100 females, but in the first 6 months of 2017 it was 119 males/100 females. With the current situation of early marriage and incestuous marriage, along with the difference in sex ratio at birth, it is estimated that each year in Con Cuong district, the number of male children born is more than female children, exceeding the allowable level of 55 boys/year.

If this situation is not controlled in time, by 2037 a significant number of young men in the area will have difficulty finding wives.

Need practical solutions

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Director of the Center for Population - Family Planning of Con Cuong district: Early marriage and incestuous marriage cause many consequences for families and society and seriously affect the race, population quality and human resources.

Early marriage, pregnancy and childbirth among adolescents are also among the causes of doubling the rate of malnutrition in children under 5 years old, including underweight and stunted children; increasing the mortality rate in children under 1 year old and under 5 years old; and increasing the maternal mortality rate related to pregnancy.

In particular, children born to consanguineous couples have a 25% chance of getting sick and 50% of them carry the Thalassemia gene. If the situation of early marriage continues, it will fall into a vicious cycle: Poverty - illiteracy - early marriage, consanguineous marriage. In reality, localities with high poverty rates, at the same time, the situation of early marriage and consanguineous marriage is also increasing...

Ethnic minorities in Con Cuong district learn about population policy through leaflets. Photo: My Ha

Recognizing the long-term consequences of this problem, over the past years, Con Cuong district has developed a plan and regularly integrated propaganda on the issues of early marriage, incestuous marriage and gender imbalance into its activities. However, to have a fundamental, practical and effective solution, a long-term strategy is needed.

This is also the main reason why in 2017, the People's Committee of Con Cuong district assigned the District Population - Family Planning Center to advise and develop the project "Intervention to reduce the situation of early marriage, consanguineous marriage and gender imbalance at birth in the period of 2017 - 2022", aiming to gradually control the increase in the situation of early marriage, consanguineous marriage and reduce the situation of gender imbalance at birth.

Thereby, increasing the provision of information on the consequences of early marriage and consanguineous marriage, information on gender and gender imbalance at birth to the people, first of all couples of childbearing age, and the target group being junior high and high school students, in order to change backward and conservative thinking among the people.

To implement this project, Con Cuong district will focus on building club models of "Sustainable development of farmer families with gender equality, no early marriage, no incestuous marriage" with the core being members of the farmer association; building clubs of "Sustainable development of farmer families with gender equality, no early marriage, no incestuous marriage" to improve knowledge for union members across the district on propaganda work on the consequences of early marriage, incestuous marriage, population policy/family planning integrated with economic and social topics...

The district will also promote communication activities through organizing specialized seminars for government leaders, unions, social organizations and prestigious people in the community; organizing training courses on communication skills, counseling on the consequences of early marriage, consanguineous marriage, gender and sex at birth for pregnant women, mothers, students, and direct counseling for young men and women preparing to get married.

Dan Lai residents - Mon Son commune sign a commitment to implement population policy. Photo: My Ha

Through this project, the district will also develop a plan to review local regulations and policies related to gender and sex at birth; strengthen inspection, examination and supervision of compliance with legal regulations, and propose strict handling of violations of the prohibition of choosing the sex of the fetus.

After the project is implemented in a number of pilot models, it is expected that by 2020, it will be expanded to all villages. From there, it will not only raise awareness but also contribute significantly to changing thinking and actions to develop the population sustainably.

My Ha