an indonesian woman suharta who is helping Indonesian communities fight early forced marriage

16 Days of Activism: meet the woman helping Indonesian communities fight early forced marriage

1 December 2023

The issue of early forced marriage continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing girls worldwide.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) predicts that if the situation remains the same over the next decade, 140 million girls around the world will marry before their 18th birthday.

Many courageous and determined individuals are working to end early forced marriage, among them is Suharti, who collaborates with Islamic Relief initiatives to support rural communities across Indonesia.

Suharti began working for the Santai Foundation after graduating in 1998. With the organisation, she investigated the abuse of children living on the streets of Mataram, a city in Indonesia’s West Nusa Tenggara province. Her experiences propelled her into activism.

“It was at that time that I became concerned about the issue of children living on the street,” says Suharti, now 44.

Many children were sleeping on the streets. I soon learned of other issues children faced through working with Santai. It was an eye-opening time for me.

says Suharti.

Suharti quickly realised that wide-ranging interventions were needed to tackle the issues these children faced. In the years to come, her efforts as an advocate for children would profoundly alter her life.

Changing deep-seated customs

Suharti vividly remembers the mother of a 14-year-old girl telling her that many children in her village married young. The mother didn’t see a problem, believing it was better for a girl to marry young than to remain single for longer and face the risk of social exclusion or stigma.

She had been a child herself when she married, as had 2 of her other daughters. But the mother was struggling to find a husband for her 14-year-old daughter, who she said was deemed less attractive than her elder sisters.

Many people shared similar stories with Suharti, telling her that young brides are better than older brides due to socioeconomic pressures. Parents struggling to provide for older children are forced to work abroad, they said, leaving their children behind – often with no other choice but to marry in order to survive. This cycle of early marriage is both a result of and a contributor to the generational trauma experienced by these villages, which can stem from a history of poverty and lack of opportunities.

Suharti faced the difficult task of finding ways to change deep-seated customs and address other detrimental practices such as child labour and social exploitation. It was clear that if she was to create lasting change, starting with the young people was crucial, because they stood to lose the most from the continuation of these harmful traditions.

Setting in motion a movement for lasting change

Suharti held workshops, trained village leaders, created youth forums and stimulated intense discussions. She says that one of Santai’s greatest achievements was creating structures that provided practical and real support in protecting children at village level.

The contributions made by those who worked with us and the women in the villages were extraordinary. We knew if we wanted this programme to be sustainable, the community had to be at least as invested in this as we were. This is the key to collaborating: the villages understand that this is not a Santai programme, but a local programme.

says Suharti.

“Even if our programme ended, the villages were committed to continuing what we have done. Children, women, and the community were also willing to assist in tackling the issue of underage marriage.”

Girls married young face mental and physical health complications

Girls married young, particularly to older men, commonly experience mental health issues as well as severe physical health complications. As part of her work to end early forced marriage, Suharti uses real-life examples to shed light on the pitfalls of the harmful practice – something rarely discussed among people in the communities she works with.

She recalls a 15-year-old girl who was married to an older man. At 65, he was old enough to be her grandfather. Visiting her at home, Surharti asked why the couple’s baby boy’s skin was covered with scabs. The girl revealed that her baby often scratched himself, a possible reaction to the irritation caused by the smoke from his father regularly burning the rice fields around their home, prior to replanting them. This smoke can carry particles that irritate the skin, causing conditions such as eczema which can lead to excessive scratching and scabbing.

Suharti was dismayed to observe that, like many girls in similar situations, the young mother lacked knowledge of parenting and health and did not possess the skills needed to protect and care for a baby against such environmental irritants.

Working in partnership with communities, Suharti and her colleagues have had a significant impact. Though early forced marriage still occurs, the rate has fallen dramatically, giving cause for hope that the harmful practice can be ended for good.

Educating Muslim girls and women about their Islamic rights, as well as improving access to religious literacy, is essential if we hope for meaningful change in our communities. That is why Islamic Relief is building a movement and educating the next generation.

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