Early marriage and incestuous marriage - sad reality in Nghe An

Children of the Dan Lai community in Bung village, Mon Son commune (Con Cuong). Photo: Dao Tuan

Sad reality

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan, Deputy Head of the Culture - Social Committee, Provincial People's Council, could not hide her feelings when sharing with us the situation of early marriage in the districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong during the recent survey trip. These are innocent girls and boys who go to school, have many job opportunities, and a better life, but are busy and preoccupied with children and food, while they themselves lack knowledge and experience in economics, health, and even the skills to be a father and mother.

The saddest thing, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan, is that the age of child marriage is decreasing. If in the past, the age of child marriage was under 18 to 16 years old, now there are couples who are only 12 - 13 years old. There are girls who, after a very short time of 1-2 years in their husband's house, some even only 10 days, have conflicts, broken marriages, and return to their mother's house to live. Therefore, the divorce rate after child marriage is also quite high. There is a girl in grade 10 this year who already has 1 child and continues to be pregnant with a second child to go to school. This is truly a painful reality.

According to a survey by the Provincial People's Council's Culture and Social Affairs Committee at some schools such as Ky Son High School in the 2018-2019 school year, 11 girls dropped out of school to get married; Tuong Duong High School had 10 girls; Muong Long Secondary School (Ky Son) and Tam Hop Secondary School (Tuong Duong), each school had 3 girls dropping out of school to get married. And the situation of early marriage is not only among the Mong people (due to the custom that when a girl goes to her son's house, she will become the ghost of the son's house) but also among the Thai, Kho Mu, Dan Lan and even the Kinh people, although they do not have this custom.

According to the data reported by the three districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong and Con Cuong to the Culture and Social Affairs Committee of the Provincial People's Council through a survey, from 2015 to 2018, in these three localities there were a total of 713 child marriage couples; of which 192 were girls under 16 years old. There were more than 30 consanguineous marriage couples. However, this number still does not reflect the reality at the grassroots level, because the investigation has not been carried out systematically, and on the other hand, people's psychology also wants to hide.

The situation of middle school and high school students dropping out of school to get married was also acknowledged by Mr. Dao Cong Loi - Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Education and Training, who said: The situation of middle school and high school students dropping out of school to get married is happening in some schools in a locality in the province; among them are good students and good students. When students drop out of school; the schools send teachers to the families to propagate and mobilize, but the parents all affirm that this is a custom of the people that cannot be changed and nothing can be done...

Early marriage and incestuous marriage are the causes of poverty, backwardness and racial degradation. In the photo: A Dan Lai father in Bung village, Mon Son commune (Con Cuong). Photo: Dao Tuan

Early marriage is the root cause of illiteracy and poverty. In particular, if we continue to think according to traditional customs, poverty will be "inherited" from parents to children, grandchildren... And the consequences of early marriage do not stop at illiteracy and poverty. According to Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Tam - Head of the Family Department, Provincial Women's Union, early marriage and incestuous marriage in localities are causing many consequences, affecting population quality and maintaining the race; high rates of malnutrition and increased mortality rates in children under 5 years old; children's rights are also not guaranteed because parents who marry early are not allowed to register their marriage, children are not allowed to have birth certificates, leading to no health insurance cards...

There is a legal basis but lacks specific solutions

Regarding the issue of early marriage and consanguineous marriage, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 498/QD-TTg, dated April 14, 2015, approving the project "Reducing the situation of early marriage and consanguineous marriage in ethnic minority areas, period 2015 - 2025". Implementing Decision No. 498/QD-TTg of the Government, the Provincial Ethnic Committee has chaired and coordinated with relevant departments, branches and sectors to advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue Plan No. 599/KH-UBND, dated February 1, 2015, associated with the establishment of a Provincial Steering Committee.

Nghe An Border Guard distributes leaflets to disseminate legal information to women in border areas. Photo: Archive

Accordingly, the province has identified 9 points in 9 communes of 4 districts (Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Que Phong) and Ky Son High School to focus on directing. However, the effectiveness of propaganda and direction at these 9 points is still unclear. For example, in a survey in Tam Hop commune (Tuong Duong), although all households have signed a contract to not violate child marriage or incestuous marriage; but when asking the local authorities how many cases of violations have been monitored and handled, they did not know. On the other hand, in all 9 communes, there has not been a plan to implement Plan No. 599/KH-UBND. The districts have not yet developed a separate plan for this task, but this task is only part of the general plan to propagate and disseminate the law; except for Con Cuong district, which has issued an intervention project. Reducing child marriage, consanguineous marriage and plan to reduce child marriage, consanguineous marriage, period 2017 - 2020.

Pha Lom Village, Tam Hop Commune (Tuong Duong). Photo: Dao Tuan.

The situation of child marriage in some pilot communes is still high. For example, in the last 3 years, Huoi Tu commune (Ky Son) had 87 child marriage couples, of which 34 were under 16 years old; Muong Long (Ky Son) had 80 cases; Mon Son (Con Cuong) had 44 cases; Tam Hop (Tuong Duong) had 40 cases...

Acknowledging that the implementation of Decision No. 498/QD-TTg and Plan No. 599/KH-UBND has not been very effective, Mr. Luong Thanh Hai - Head of the Provincial Ethnic Minorities Committee said that to create changes in this issue, it is not only the responsibility of individuals in the Provincial Steering Committee but also the responsibility of the Party Committee, the government and the entire political system in the locality, especially the grassroots level must really get involved to propagate, change awareness and actions among ethnic minorities; associated with handling responsibility for individuals who violate.

Agreeing with the opinion of the Head of the Provincial Ethnic Committee, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan - Head of the Culture - Social Committee of the Provincial People's Council also said that it is impossible to blame the awareness of the people, because through actual surveys in some localities, child marriage occurs in the families of officials and civil servants; including the children of the Chairwoman of the Women's Union, the Justice officials of the commune and the Principal of the school...

On the other hand, although the Law on Marriage and Family stipulates that in cases of illegal marriage, including child marriage and incestuous marriage, relevant agencies and organizations are responsible for requesting the court to annul the illegal marriage; the Criminal Code stipulates that acts of child marriage or sexual intercourse with children from 13 to under 16 years old will be criminally prosecuted; however, through the survey, not a single case has been prosecuted.

Mong women in Pha Lom village, Tam Hop commune (Tuong Duong). Photo: Dao Tuan.

Agreeing with the opinion of the Deputy Head of the Culture - Society Committee, Provincial People's Council, Ms. Thai Thi An Chung - Deputy Head of the Legal Committee of the Provincial People's Council, said that, regarding the handling of administrative violations of early marriage and incestuous marriage, the Government has issued Decree No. 110/2013/ND-CP with specific regulations; especially for cadres, civil servants and party members, requiring higher responsibility to handle violations of prohibitions in the field of marriage and family. On the other hand, to avoid the idea that customs and practices are an excuse for early marriage and consanguineous marriage, according to Ms. Thai Thi An Chung, the Provincial People's Committee needs to direct specialized agencies to advise on the development of a list of customs and practices on marriage and family of ethnic groups in the province according to Decree No. 126/2014/ND-CP, dated December 31, 2014 of the Government detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family to submit to the Provincial People's Council for decision.

The 1959 Law on Marriage and Family and its many amendments and supplements continue to raise the issue of prohibiting early marriage and incestuous marriage. Therefore, all levels, sectors and localities need to take action with a responsible and determined attitude. In particular, all levels and localities need to pay attention to creating activities and expanding the space for cultural exchange between ethnic groups in the same locality and between localities to enhance cultural and information exchange to combat early marriage, especially incestuous marriage as it is today.