Girls in an ethnic minority villageonly 110km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City are still getting married andhaving children at as early as the age of 13.
“Oneout of ten households in the village will marry-off their daughters atan early age,” said Dinh Thi Loan, deputy head of a village in AnKhuong 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 mountainousarea around Binh Long town have been organising marriages for theiryoung daughters for generations.
The hope that the new husband will work on the family farm is one ofthe main reasons quoted by S’tieng people for continuing the practice.
Four years ago a mother in An Khuong commune named Gai, 35, decided notto listen to advice from her peers and arranged a marriage for her15-year-old daughter who had just finished elementary school.
Gai, who was a child bride herself at 15, and is now widowed with fivechildren, argued that by organising her teenage daugher’s wedding shewas 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 – allat age 15. All the daughters had to drop out of school abruptly to getmarried at their mother’s request.
It has been tough on Ut financially. Her land has been divided intopieces as dowries for her daughters, leaving her with little land tosupport her sick father and her youngest daughter’s family.
It was a common story in the town that teenage wives were too young andirresponsible to be able to take proper care of their reproductivehealth and children.
Many of the teenage brides were not aware that they were pregnant whentheir bellies began to bulge, and they ate herbs that are dangerousduring pregnancy, according to Nguyen Thi Kim Nga, head of the communalclinic.
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 teenbrides which has 100 women members in the village.
The women members have pledged not to marry off their sons anddaughters until they are older and are trying to persuade other womenin the village to do the same./.
“Oneout of ten households in the village will marry-off their daughters atan early age,” said Dinh Thi Loan, deputy head of a village in AnKhuong 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 mountainousarea around Binh Long town have been organising marriages for theiryoung daughters for generations.
The hope that the new husband will work on the family farm is one ofthe main reasons quoted by S’tieng people for continuing the practice.
Four years ago a mother in An Khuong commune named Gai, 35, decided notto listen to advice from her peers and arranged a marriage for her15-year-old daughter who had just finished elementary school.
Gai, who was a child bride herself at 15, and is now widowed with fivechildren, argued that by organising her teenage daugher’s wedding shewas 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 – allat age 15. All the daughters had to drop out of school abruptly to getmarried at their mother’s request.
It has been tough on Ut financially. Her land has been divided intopieces as dowries for her daughters, leaving her with little land tosupport her sick father and her youngest daughter’s family.
It was a common story in the town that teenage wives were too young andirresponsible to be able to take proper care of their reproductivehealth and children.
Many of the teenage brides were not aware that they were pregnant whentheir bellies began to bulge, and they ate herbs that are dangerousduring pregnancy, according to Nguyen Thi Kim Nga, head of the communalclinic.
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 teenbrides which has 100 women members in the village.
The women members have pledged not to marry off their sons anddaughters until they are older and are trying to persuade other womenin the village to do the same./.
