The Legal and Social Aspect for Underage Marriage Women’s Education Rights in the Perspective of Human Rights: Contemporary Issues and Problems

This paper explores the legal and social protections that are unavailable to young girls and women who have entered into child marriages, thus violating their human rights. While there are regulations regarding minimum age requirements to marry legally, families can avoid such legal protections through marriage dispensation and allow for child marriages to proceed. The study finds that child marriage is a vehicle with which society can deprive girls from certain economic rights, including the right to achieve an education. Girls entering child marriages drop out of school and are disallowed from pursuing higher education. This causes girls and women to become economically and socially dependent on others, thus exacerbating the gender gap. While these violations are contrary to article 13 of the Indonesian Constitution outlining the universal right to education, there are no laws criminalizing the deprivation of educational rights among young girls.