Awareness on the consequences of child marriage: a case study in Selangor / Norsyakezah Sarifah Zulkifli, Ubaidah Syamit Ishar and Yasmeen Zairi

Child marriage is a marriage where either one or both partners are below the age of 18. ln Malaysia, the number of child marriage has grown steadily over the years where it has reached 15,000 cases within IO years. However, child marriage has brought negative impact towards young brides in many areas such as health, safety and education. Thus, this research was done to describe the demographic characteristics of the respondents and to determine the level of awareness on consequences of child marriage. This research also describes the factors of awareness on consequences of child marriage and compare the factors to different social demographic factors. This study was conducted in Selangor where the respondents were above 18 years old. The method used in this study were Descriptive Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis. To measure the relationship between social demographic factors and level on awareness towards consequences of child marriage, Independent T-Test and ANOVA were used. As the results, five factors were extracted from 20 items which named as Social Inclusion, Child Education After Marriages, Security of the Brides, Child's Health After Marriage and Child's Protection from Domestic Violence. The Cronbach's Alpha value of each constructs indicate that all groups have a strong reliability. From the Independent T-Test and ANOVA , the result shows that only gender is significant and the only factor differentiating is Education. lt is proved that males are more aware to Child's Education After Marriages compared to females. To prevent child marriage, everyone need to play their own role. For instance, schools need to improve their education system to provide pupils with knowledge that can help them make better decision in the future. The empowerment seminars and activities can also expose children with this issues. Law enforcement by the government also can help to reduce the number of child marriage.