Community-Based Integrated Child Protection Model for Intervention to Reduce Child Marriage Cases
Summary & Objectives
This study evaluates a community-based intervention designed to reduce child marriage in rural Central Java, Indonesia, where prevalence remains high despite legal reforms that raised the minimum marriage age to 19. Using a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test control group design, the study assesses whether the Community-Based Integrated Child Protection (PATBM) model improves knowledge and attitudes toward delaying marriage among adolescents and their parents. The objective is to test whether empowering village-level child protection groups can shift social norms and strengthen community capacity to prevent child marriage.
Findings
The study finds that the PATBM intervention significantly increased knowledge of child marriage and its health, social, and economic consequences among both adolescents and parents in the intervention villages. It also produced statistically significant positive changes in attitudes toward delaying the age of marriage, while no meaningful changes were observed in the control group. Results show that engaging parents, religious leaders, community leaders, and youth through structured training and social marketing is effective in challenging norms that normalise early marriage. The findings highlight the central role of family decision-making and community influence in sustaining or preventing child marriage.
Recommendations
The study recommends scaling up integrated, community-based child protection models that engage adolescents, parents, and local leaders simultaneously. Interventions should prioritise strengthening village-level institutions, improving literacy around child marriage harms, and promoting social norms that support delayed marriage. Legal reforms alone are insufficient; sustained community engagement and systems strengthening are essential to achieve durable reductions in child marriage.
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