Girls in an ethnic minority village only 110km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City are still getting married and having children at as early as the age of 13.
“One out of ten households in the village will marry-off their daughters at an early age,” said Dinh Thi Loan, deputy head of a village in An Khuong Commune in southern Binh Phuoc province’s Binh Long town.
Loan pointed to a lack of male workers and old customs as the main reasons for teenage marriages.
Parents of young girls in the S’tieng ethnic group in the mountainous area around Binh Long town have been organising marriages for their young daughters for generations.
The hope that the new husband will work on the family farm is one of the main reasons quoted by S’tieng people for continuing the practice.
Four years ago a mother in An Khuong commune named Gai, 35, decided not to listen to advice from her peers and arranged a marriage for her 15-year-old daughter who had just finished elementary school.
Gai, who was a child bride herself at 15, and is now widowed with five children, argued that by organising her teenage daugher’s wedding she was only following tradition and that others shouldn’t interfere.
Her motivation was to recruit a workman into the family farm business to support her as the main breadwinner.
Her plan backfired, however, when her new son-in-law, also a teenager, decided to hang out with his friends instead of working on the land.
Instead of an extra pair of hands on the farm, Gai got a new grandson and has another one on the way.
Ut, one of Gai’s neighbours, also married-off her four daughters – all at age 15. All the daughters had to drop out of school abruptly to get married at their mother’s request.
It has been tough on Ut financially. Her land has been divided into pieces as dowries for her daughters, leaving her with little land to support her sick father and her youngest daughter’s family.
It was a common story in the town that teenage wives were too young and irresponsible to be able to take proper care of their reproductive health and children.
Many of the teenage brides were not aware that they were pregnant when their bellies began to bulge, and they ate herbs that are dangerous during pregnancy, according to Nguyen Thi Kim Nga, head of the communal clinic.
Nga said some of the young girls have given birth in the fields.
In an effort to stop the practice of young teenagers becoming bridges, the commune’s Women’s Association set up an organization against teen brides which has 100 women members in the village.
The women members have pledged not to marry off their sons and daughters until they are older and are trying to persuade other women in the village to do the same./.
“One out of ten households in the village will marry-off their daughters at an early age,” said Dinh Thi Loan, deputy head of a village in An Khuong Commune in southern Binh Phuoc province’s Binh Long town.
Loan pointed to a lack of male workers and old customs as the main reasons for teenage marriages.
Parents of young girls in the S’tieng ethnic group in the mountainous area around Binh Long town have been organising marriages for their young daughters for generations.
The hope that the new husband will work on the family farm is one of the main reasons quoted by S’tieng people for continuing the practice.
Four years ago a mother in An Khuong commune named Gai, 35, decided not to listen to advice from her peers and arranged a marriage for her 15-year-old daughter who had just finished elementary school.
Gai, who was a child bride herself at 15, and is now widowed with five children, argued that by organising her teenage daugher’s wedding she was only following tradition and that others shouldn’t interfere.
Her motivation was to recruit a workman into the family farm business to support her as the main breadwinner.
Her plan backfired, however, when her new son-in-law, also a teenager, decided to hang out with his friends instead of working on the land.
Instead of an extra pair of hands on the farm, Gai got a new grandson and has another one on the way.
Ut, one of Gai’s neighbours, also married-off her four daughters – all at age 15. All the daughters had to drop out of school abruptly to get married at their mother’s request.
It has been tough on Ut financially. Her land has been divided into pieces as dowries for her daughters, leaving her with little land to support her sick father and her youngest daughter’s family.
It was a common story in the town that teenage wives were too young and irresponsible to be able to take proper care of their reproductive health and children.
Many of the teenage brides were not aware that they were pregnant when their bellies began to bulge, and they ate herbs that are dangerous during pregnancy, according to Nguyen Thi Kim Nga, head of the communal clinic.
Nga said some of the young girls have given birth in the fields.
In an effort to stop the practice of young teenagers becoming bridges, the commune’s Women’s Association set up an organization against teen brides which has 100 women members in the village.
The women members have pledged not to marry off their sons and daughters until they are older and are trying to persuade other women in the village to do the same./.
