According to statistics from the Ethnic Minorities Committee of Dien Bien province, in the first 5 months of the year (from January 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024), in the whole province of Dien Bien, there were 1,633 married couples, of which 644 were child marriage couples (including the wife or husband in child marriage or both the wife and husband in child marriage), accounting for 39.4%.
Among them, localities with high rates of child marriage include Tua Chua district, Tuan Giao district and Nam Po district. Cases of child marriage are mainly concentrated among the Mong ethnic group.
Speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Mr. Thao A Lu - Head of the Ethnic Division of Tua Chua district - said that statistics from January 1, 2024 to May 31, 2024, the whole district had 95 cases of child marriage, of which 48 cases of child marriage of wife or husband, 47 cases of child marriage of both wife and husband and no cases of incestuous marriage.
The main reason is that the level of education is still limited, the custom of early marriage is deeply ingrained in the subconscious of the people, so it is difficult to change awareness in a short time. Although the law has clear regulations on handling cases of early marriage, the punishment still faces many difficulties.
“This problem is very difficult. If we want to solve it, where should we start? It is difficult for one locality to solve it, and it is difficult for another locality not to solve it. Therefore, raising awareness about the harmful effects of child marriage for the younger generation is still the main solution,” said Mr. Lu.
In Tuan Giao district, with over 90% of the population being ethnic minorities, the rate of child marriage in recent years in the area, although still high, has tended to decrease. In the first 6 months of 2024, the whole district had 323 married couples, of which 90 were child marriage couples.
According to Mr. Nhu Duy Dong - Head of the Ethnic Division of Tuan Giao district, cases of early marriage are common at the age of 15 - 17 for girls and 16-19 for boys.
“This is the age group that is still studying and dropping out to get married. In addition, some are children of poor households, do not have the opportunity to study compared to their peers, do not have stable jobs, lack life experience, and therefore lack social knowledge,” Mr. Dong informed.
According to statistics from the Ethnic Minorities Committee of Dien Bien province, the number of ethnic minority women giving birth for the first time under the age of 18 in the first 5 months of 2024 was 586 people. Among them, there is still 1 incestuous couple (in Na Son commune, Dien Bien Dong district).
According to PV's investigation, in the first half of 2024, the entire Dien Bien province deployed 24 village models without child marriage (an increase of 3 models compared to 2023); organized 268 club meetings to communicate content on child marriage and consanguineous marriage and signed a commitment to no child marriage and consanguineous marriage. The number of child marriage cases decreased from 1,104 cases in 2023 to 644 cases in the first 6 months of 2024.
However, according to Mr. Vu Van Cong - Deputy Head of the Ethnic Minorities Committee of Dien Bien province, it is very difficult to determine the effectiveness of propaganda work each year.
"Maybe this year there are many festivals, teenagers go out a lot, so the rate of early marriage has increased. In particular, the rate of teenagers with smartphones is very high, the opportunity to access movies and videos on social networking platforms is also one of the factors affecting the increasing rate of early marriage" - Mr. Cong said.
