Perceptions on Interventions to Empower Girls and Families to Reduce Child Marriage in Kampung Seri Menanti, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Abstract

Child marriage is a social phenomenon where girls and boys are married before they reached 18 years old, which usually occurs through an arranged marriage. Oftentimes, these children are living in poverty, and lack access to healthcare and education. In contemporary society, child marriage is still existed and deems as a survival mechanism for the poor. However, passing the minimum marriage age would consume time thus drastic action should undertake to protect these children and exercising their rights. The study aims to ascertain the interventions to empower girls and families to reduce child marriage. Three variables were tested, namely the conditional cash transfer program, educational program, and economic entrusting program, which was successfully undertaken in Third World countries to enable girls to be treated equally in society. A survey was conducted on 116 public persons in Kampung Seri Menanti who met the inclusive criteria of the research. The preliminary findings indicated that these three types of intervention would potentially influence the girl and support family empowerment against child marriage in the country. The research also has practical implications.