Scrutinizing the underlying factors and elucidating the impacts of child marriage on individual, family and society / Noraine Bahari

At the international level, UNICEF has taken proactive steps in anticipating the upward trend in child marriage cases. According to estimates from UNICEF, 15 million teenagers worldwide will be married before turning 18 years old. This figure has alarmed those who fight for children's rights; thus, UNICEF advises each country to monitor and identify the dynamic variables that lead to child marriage cases in their respective countries. As a result, Malaysia has taken efforts to report occurrences of child marriage. The data reveals that child marriage in Malaysia likewise exhibits an upward trend, with Kelantan recording the greatest number of cases for Muslims and Sarawak recording the highest number of cases for non-Muslims. This study aims; i) to explore the underlying factors contributing to child marriage in Malaysia; ii) to elucidate the impacts of child marriage on the individual, family, and society; iii) to scrutinize the roles and responsibilities of the agencies in dealing with child marriage in Malaysia; and iv) to identify the issues and challenges faced by the agencies in dealing with child marriage. The study approach was designed by adapting qualitative methodologies with in-depth approach using semi-structured interviews to interview 19 informants married underage and 6 key informants (1 Syarie Judge JKSM, 1 Assistant Registrar JKSM, 1 Registration Officer JPN, 1 Family Counsellor LPPKN, and 2 Psychology Expert). In this study the Theory of Social Norm (to understand community culture in Kelantan and Sarawak) and Theory of Maturity (to understand the appropriate age for marriage) are both employed extensively to explain the phenomena of child marriage. As per results, finding show that premarital sex and unwed pregnancies were the primary caused informants applied for marriage. This happens because of both internal and external factors. The internal factors that ultimately result in the primary causes include poverty, dropping out of school, family issues, and involvement in social problems. Community culture and religion are external forces that pressure informants to get married. Additionally, this study confirmed child marriage exposes children to dangerous and harmful practices, eventually affecting the development of the children. The effects on children's physical health, mental health, economic situation, education, and level of responsibility are all being observed.