Sarawak Women for Women Society to host discussions on early marriages, native customs this Oct

KUCHING (Sept 15): Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS) will be organising a series of roundtables and workshops starting next month to initiate discussions on native customs of early marriage under the age of 18.

Team members from SWWS paid a courtesy visit to Sarawak Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah on Friday to brief her on the upcoming dialogues with native leaders and the youth.

Speaking at a press conference, Fatimah said her ministry had always been actively addressing the issue of teenage pregnancy and she welcomed any efforts by non-governmental organisations to support the government’s initiative to tackle the issue.

“Teenage pregnancy is not just a social issue because it is also related to education, poverty and health issues,” said Fatimah.

Teen pregnancies, she pointed out, could carry extra health risks to both the young mother and her baby, and with the failure of attaining sufficient education at this age, these young ones could be trapped in a poverty cycle due to the difficulty in getting a job.

“But let’s say they have gotten pregnant while they are still schooling, we will encourage them to go back to school after they have delivered the baby.

“Our welfare department will take care of the welfare of the baby in terms of monthly assistance,” she said.

According to her, the health department would be tasked to look after the young expecting mother through pre-natal examinations, while the ministry would facilitate a proper adoption process for the baby.

This, she emphasised, would only be conducted in accordance with the young mother’s wishes.

With the ministry’s targeting to reduce teenage pregnancy cases by at least 10 per cent each year, Fatimah said the One-Stop Teenage Pregnancy Committee were formed in divisions across the state to promote better awareness on the matter.

SWWS, meanwhile, highlighted the needs for young girls to at least complete their education until Form 5 in order to safeguard their future.

The advocacy group also made a call to raise the minimum age for marriage to 18, just like under the civil law, as the existing provisions had allowed early marriages to be conducted with parental or state permission.

“By working closely with key native stakeholders, SWWS will compile a report on current views within the varied communities regarding the age of marriage to deepen understanding on this issue and possible ways of addressing, and this report will be disseminated in early 2026,” said SWWS in a statement.

The group would engage with the Bidayuh community here next month for a series of discussions, followed by several sessions in Sri Aman, Kapit, Miri, Long Lama and Lawas next year.

The project is funded by Canada Fund for Local Initiatives and individuals interested to know more about the project can contact SWWS at [email protected] or send a text message to 013-8044285.