Violence against children and women is often attributed to traditional and deep-rooted cultural factors. In Indonesia, numerous local cultures persist in endorsing child marriages. These cultural practices significantly influence the local parental style, even though parents should ideally serve as protectors against child marriages. Therefore, Rutgers Indonesia, through the Power to You(th) program and SuaR Indonesia, carried out a Local Cultural Practices Workshop in supporting Sexual and Reproductive Health
Rights. The workshop was held on September 6, 2023 in Jember Regency. This event was attended by parents and teachers from local secondary education in Jember Regency.
The main objective of this workshop is to encourage the active involvement of teachers and parents in identifying local cultural norms and practices from East Java, particularly indigenous people of Madura, that may either facilitate or hinder efforts to prevent child marriages, sexual and gender-based violence, and unwanted pregnancies. Participants were engaged in discussions pertaining to parenting approaches, societal perspective, as well as the myths and facts associated with prevailing local cultural norms.
The workshop also talked about gender, forms of gender injustice, sexual and reproductive health, and modern culture and its relation to patterns of access to information that trigger risk-taking behaviour in adolescents. As a result, the participants agreed that a positive local and modern culture will be preserved within a constructive framework.
