Criminal proceedings to resolve child marriage once and for all

Child marriage shows signs of increasing

Ky Son district, Nghe An province is one of the poorest and most disadvantaged districts in the country. The whole district has 16,957 households, of which 8,424 households are poor, accounting for 49.68%. The population in the district is scattered, the distance between villages is far and isolated; transportation is difficult...

Due to the above difficulties, along with limited education level and many backward customs, in recent years the situation of early marriage in Ky Son district has tended to increase.

Policy - Criminal handling to completely resolve the situation of child marriage — The mountainous terrain and lack of electricity in many places make Ky Son district extremely difficult.

According to statistics, in 2020 there were 164 people, in 2021 there were 147 people, in 2022 there were 171 people, in 2023 there were 229 people. This comes from cultural practices and marriage concepts as well as gender inequality in the lives of the people; concentrated in communes with a large number of Mong and Kho Mu ethnic groups.

Before and after the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin in 2024, the whole district had 84 violations. Of which, 9 were high school students and 13 were junior high school students. The average age of violations was 17.5 years old for males and 15.8 years old for females.

Policy - Criminal handling to completely resolve the situation of child marriage (Figure 2). — Many female students at the age of 14-15 are married.

Ms. Vi Thi Quyen, Vice Chairwoman of Ky Son district, said that many solutions have been proposed and implemented by Ky Son district in recent years, but the situation of child marriage in this border district has not shown any signs of decreasing.

In addition to the above factors, in recent years, a new factor has emerged, which is the trend of early love due to the influence of social networks and lax family management. There are many children whose father or mother or both parents work in distant provinces, leaving their children at home with grandparents and relatives.

Currently, the whole Ky Son district has nearly 11,000 workers working at home and abroad, among which there are many families where both father and mother work far away, leaving only their children at home to be raised by relatives, so family affection and education are seriously affected, especially the psychological and physiological development of adolescents.

For this reason, recently, the authorities have recorded a number of underage marriages that originated from the children themselves, with some cases of pressure and even threats to commit suicide by eating poison leaves if their parents refused to organize the wedding. One reason that cannot be ignored is that the compliance with the law by parents and the children themselves is still very limited, leading to the problem of child marriage still being a problem in the poorest district of Nghe An province.

Strengthening propaganda and handling

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Head of the Justice Department of Ky Son district, said that this year and in the coming years, the district will continue to mobilize the entire political system to implement solutions and specific actions and deeds.

Policy - Criminal handling to completely resolve the situation of child marriage (Figure 3). — *Organize people to sign a commitment not to commit early marriage and incestuous marriage* .

The district has also gradually improved the economic life of the people. Poverty often goes hand in hand with backwardness, so when economic conditions are improved, people's knowledge will naturally improve, backward customs and concepts will gradually decrease according to the law of development.

Focus on cultural, social and employment development. Find ways to reduce and eliminate backward customs and concepts that are deeply ingrained in the subconscious and life of the people, especially in communes where Mong people live. Solve employment problems along with education development to improve the quality of human resources.

In particular, starting from 2023, Ky Son district has been handling violations of child marriage in accordance with the law by means of administrative fines and criminal proceedings to promptly deter. Up to now, 243 violations have been handled, collecting 455 million VND to the State budget.

Cases of administrative sanctions will be widely informed in village meetings and in the community to remind, deter and prevent similar incidents.

Policy - Criminal handling to completely resolve the situation of child marriage (Figure 4). — *Minor students sign a commitment with the school and local authorities not to violate marriage and family laws.*

Along with administrative sanctions, propaganda work to prevent and combat child marriage and incestuous marriage in many forms to each commune, each village, each residential area, each household and school has been promoted by the functional sectors. In addition, the functional sector of Ky Son district has organized for people and students to sign a commitment not to marry early.

In 2023, the District Law Dissemination Coordination Council organized 555 grassroots propaganda sessions for people and students, attracting 72 participants. Organized all underage students and heads of households to sign a commitment with the school and local authorities not to violate the law on marriage and family.

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