Parents sign agreements to combat early marriages in Tây Sơn Commune, Kỳ Sơn District, Nghệ An Province. — Photo giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn

HÀ NỘI — In the remote district of Kỳ Sơn, Nghệ An Province, a fight is underway stop the deeply entrenched practice of early marriage.

Kỳ Sơn has witnessed a steady increase in early marriages over the past few years. The number of cases rose from 164 in 2020 to 229 in 2023.

Between January 1 and the Lunar New Year in 2024, the district witnessed 84 cases, nine of which involved high school students and 13 middle school students.

The average age of people getting married was 17.5 years for males and 15.8 years for females.

Experts believe that the concerning trend has its roots in cultural traditions and gender inequality, which can normally be observed in communities with a significant presence of ethnic groups.

Vi Thị Quyên, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Kỳ Sơn, claimed that early marriage in the district had not diminished over the years despite measures taken to prevent it.

She cited social media’s influence and poor family supervision, in addition to cultural traditions and gender inequality, as contributing factors to the growing trend.

Lax family supervision is common in Kỳ Sơn because around 11,000 parents in the district have to work far away from home, leaving their children under the care of relatives.

The absence of parental supervision disrupts the children's psychological development and makes them more vulnerable to social media's influence, fostering early romantic relationships.

That explains why some young individuals have recently used threats of self-harm, including killing themselves by chewing poisonous plants, to force their families to accept their early marriages.

Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, Head of the Legal Department of Kỳ Sơn, said the district had taken various measures to curb the practice.

It has laid down rules to impose administrative fines and legal penalties on offenders of early marriage regulations. A total of 243 cases have been handled with total fines of VNĐ455 million (US$18,400) since 2023.

It has also launched 555 communication campaigns to raise people's awareness of early marriage. In the campaigns, families and teenagers are convinced to sign commitment agreements to not engage in unlawful marriages.

Jobs and organised vocational training programmes were also created to improve people's livelihoods. This measure comes from the belief that outdated practices diminish when poverty is eliminated.

Those facing fines for unlawful marriage, Tuấn said, will be named during community meetings and gatherings as a deterrent to other would-be offenders.

Kỳ Sơn finds itself among the poorest districts in Việt Nam with 16,957 households, of which 8,424 are living in poverty. Travel among villages is difficult due to poor transport facilities. —VNS