CHILD MARRIAGES

Cambodia has one of the highest rates of child marriage in SouthEast Asia, with one in five girls marrying before they're legally adults. Writer Benjamin Law travelled to the region to witness first-hand the international push to improve the lives of a new generation of girls

- Benjamin Law

We’re driving north-east out of Cambodia’s tourist capital of Siem Reap, heading into some of the country’s most remote and inaccessible regions. After eight hours carving through muddy unpaved roads, we arrive in pristine and lush Ratanakiri Province, home to the stunning Lake Yeak Laom, arguably South-East Asia’s most picturesque swimming spot.

For all its natural splendour, however, Ratanakiri is struggling. This is the poorest province of a country still rebuilding not even 50 years on from the horrors of a genocide. Education is limited. Job opportunities are few. But what’s particularly shocking is Ratanakiri has one of the most concentrated rates of child marriage in the world. Almost half of all girls here get married under the age of 18.

Today, we arrive in Phnom Kok Commune to attend the semi-open, dirt-floored maternal health pop-up. Locals gather here once a month to catch up socially, while also getting maternal health services, childcare and check-ups. Entire families arrive on motorcycles and scooters and snack on the free Cambodian doughnuts, filled with sweet yellow mung bean and deep fried in sticky rice flour – a deliciously crispy cousin of mochi.

Never underestimate the incentive of food in public-health education outreach. After all, there are only so many times you can lecture people that child and early forced marriage is wrong. That teen pregnancies are bad for physical and mental health. How child marriages often end after mere months. How a higher risk of domestic violence and emotional abuse comes with child marriage, and how this all disproportionately impacts girls, who are forced to carry the stigma of divorce later on. Instead of lecturing, local health providers convey the dangers and pitfalls of this practice, and encourage the community to educate each other.

Today, an energetic Cambodian Youth Association field officer in her twenties cheerily asks the crowd, “OK! When did you all get married?”