Co-founder and Director – InteGRAL: Intersectional Gender Research Advocacy and Learning
Indonesia has many ethnicities, and they are bound by their own customary law. When it comes to national legal frameworks or government policy, they are often not considerate of the situation on the ground. Looking at Child, Early and Forced Marriages (CEFM) for example, the national law states that the minimum age for marriage is 19, and communities are told by the authorities that the law needs to be complied with. There is little or no effort to communicate this in a logical way. The reasoning behind the law, health and wellbeing issues related to age, risks and consequences, are not explained or discussed. Also, community level leadership is historically patriarchal with very strong views on beliefs and traditions. Gender issues at the community level need to be approached bearing this in mind.