Perpustakaan Terpadu

The degree of maternal and child health has not yet been optimal. One of the contributory factors influencing this condition was the culture of early marriage. Child marriage threatens girls’ lives and health, and it limits their future lives. The purpose of this study was to analyze the background of early marriage and the cultural stigma in young Madurese women. This was a descriptive observational study. The population were young Madurese women aged from 12 to 20 years from Wonokoyo village of Malang, both married and single, and were purposively selected. It is a fact that the tradition of early marriage was still maintained by the ethnicity of the Madurese. Madurese culture labels teenage women who have not yet got married as ‘spinsters’. There were four factors triggering tradition of early marriage, and these were the individual, peers, family, and society. The culture of feeling disgraced has the young women of Madurese getting married at an early age. Less understanding about marriage diminished their anxiety of the effects that early marriage will cause. The society has to be equipped with a good understanding about early marriage so that they will be able to participate actively in building a healthy society.