Many years of being the "leader" in child marriage
In recent years, although the authorities and sectors of Hoa Binh province and Kim Boi district have taken many drastic measures to prevent the situation of TH-HNCHT and have achieved many positive results. Specifically, up to now, in Kim Boi district, there are no more cases of incestuous marriage, however, the situation of early marriage in the district is still a concern of the local government.
Kim Boi district has 7 communes in area III, 6 communes in area II, 4 communes and towns in area I, 21 villages and hamlets in areas II and I with special difficulties, and 9 communes and towns in areas with national defense focus (4 ATK communes, 5 inland communes and towns). There are many ethnic groups living in the district, of which the Muong ethnic group accounts for 83%, the Kinh ethnic group accounts for 14%, the remaining are Dao, Tay and other ethnic groups accounting for 3%. According to the multidimensional poverty standard for the period 2022-2025, the rate of poor households accounts for 12.29%, near-poor households account for 10.03%; the average income per capita in 2023 is estimated at 48 million VND.
In 2015, the whole province had 516 cases of child marriage, of which Kim Boi district had the highest number with 125 cases; in 2017, the whole province had 399 cases, of which Kim Boi district had the highest number with 89 cases. Faced with this situation, the entire Kim Boi political system has taken action with many solutions to reduce child marriage, thanks to which the child marriage situation has decreased significantly in recent years. Specifically, in 2021, Kim Boi district had 33 cases of child marriage; in 2022, there were 32 cases; in 2023, there were 28 cases.
Child marriage is concentrated in communes with special difficulties. Typically, in Hung Son commune, the commune has 12 hamlets, of which 5 hamlets are in special difficulties; the proportion of ethnic minorities accounts for 95%. The whole commune has 431 poor households, accounting for 22.7%; 348 near-poor households, accounting for 18.3%.
According to Mr. Bui Van Tinh, Vice Chairman of Hung Son Commune People's Committee, in 2021, Hung Son commune had 4 cases of early marriage, in 2022 there were 3 cases, in 2023 there were 2 cases; in 2024 there were 3 cases. In order to minimize the situation of TH-HNCHT, Hung Son commune has implemented many solutions, including promoting propaganda and mobilization work. Accordingly, the commune's Justice and Cultural civil servants, along with organizations and unions of the commune and village, regularly integrate propaganda about TH-HNCHT in village and hamlet conferences.
“In 2023, the commune was allocated a budget of 28 million to implement the content of Dissemination of legal education and propaganda to mobilize ethnic minorities under Sub-project 1, Project 10, National Target Program 1719. The commune organized in 1 day with many contents such as: sports competition; cultural exchange, propaganda of TH-HNCHT in the form of dramatization with the full participation of villages and hamlets. The program has a very positive influence, attracting the participation of many ages, especially minors", Mr. Bui Van Tinh informed.
According to Mr. Tinh, when detecting cases of early marriage, Justice and Culture officials, along with organizations and unions of the commune and village, and prestigious people will directly visit the family to propagate and mobilize; if there are still intentional violations, they will make a record and warn. However, in reality, there have been many cases where local propaganda and mobilization have been successful, but there are still many cases of intentional violations.
The risk of child marriage is always lurking
We had the opportunity to talk to many people who were carrying out administrative procedures at the Hung Son Commune People's Committee headquarters. When asked about early marriage, some people innocently answered that it was okay to let their children get married without declaring or registering their marriage. However, many people seriously acknowledged that early marriage is a violation of the law, so they would advise their children to focus on studying and not to fall in love and get married early in order to have a better future.
Discussing this situation, Mr. Bui Van Hoa, Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department of Kim Boi district, said that the influence of customs and practices and backward concepts in marriage; unemployment or need for people to work are factors contributing to the increase in the rate of early marriage. Meanwhile, the reactions from the community are still very weak, most of them consider this a private matter of each family, even in some places not only do not object but also agree to support.
“In addition, the information explosion era has created conditions for children to be exposed to a lot of information on the internet at an early age, including good information but also unhealthy information, while children often explore on their own, leading to many cases of going beyond the limit and having unwanted pregnancies,” said Mr. Hoa.
Another point worth discussing, according to the representative of the Kim Boi District Justice Department, is that many parents, due to difficult family circumstances, have to work far away and are not closely monitoring their children. Currently, the district has about 7,000 children at risk whose parents work far away. These children are at risk of being abused and married early.
Faced with the complicated developments of early marriage, all levels and sectors of Hoa Binh province and especially Kim Boi district have been strengthening leadership, direction and mobilizing the combined strength of the political system to enhance the responsibility of Party committees and authorities at all levels in implementing legal regulations on marriage and family to soon eliminate the situation of early marriage in ethnic minority areas.
The 2014 Law on Marriage and Family stipulates: Early marriage is the act of getting married when one or both parties are under the legal age of marriage (the legal age of marriage is 20 years old or older for men, 18 years old or older for women). Incestuous marriage is the act of getting married or living together as husband and wife between people of the same bloodline; between relatives within three generations (relatives within three generations are people born from the same origin, including parents as the first generation; full brothers and sisters, half brothers and sisters, and half sisters as the second generation; children of uncles, aunts, paternal aunts, maternal aunts, and paternal aunts are the third generation).
Source: https://baodantoc.vn/giam-thieu-tao-hon-va-hon-nhan-can-huyet-thong-o-kim-boi-hoa-binh-con-nhieu-tran-tro-bai-1-1727868901019.htm
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