Preventing early marriage and incestuous marriage

In the province's ethnic minority areas, early marriage and incestuous marriage still occur silently, directly affecting the health of the race and the quality of the population. In order to prevent long-term consequences, local authorities and socio-political organizations have actively implemented many propaganda and mobilization measures to change people's awareness.

Tan Hoi village chief came to propagate the consequences of early marriage and incestuous marriage to the villagers.

We visited the family of Ms. Hoang Thi Sua, a Mong ethnic, in Tan Hoi village (Nghien Loan commune). Mr. and Mrs. Hoang Thi Sua are relatives (the older sister's and younger brother's children). Due to lack of knowledge and lack of education, the two got married. As a result, their first child, Ly Thanh Tan, was born with a congenital defect, poor health, and slower development than children of the same age and could not go to school.

Ms. Sua shared: Due to lack of knowledge and old customs, my husband and I voluntarily came together even though we knew we were close relatives. When we gave birth and saw that our child had a birth defect, I realized the consequences of incestuous marriage.

Nghien Loan commune is currently home to more than 90% ethnic minorities. Child marriage and incestuous marriage mainly occur among the Mong ethnic group. The reason is due to limited awareness of ethnic minorities and backward customs and practices.

In addition, difficult economic conditions, low education levels, and long geographical distances have also made the dissemination of laws on marriage and family ineffective. Since the beginning of the year, the commune has recorded 3 cases of child marriage.

Mr. Duong Van Quynh, Chairman of Nghien Loan Commune People's Committee, said: The main reason leading to the situation of incestuous marriage is due to the limited awareness of the people. Therefore, we determined that propaganda and mobilization work must be carried out regularly and long-term to gradually prevent the situation of incestuous marriage, ensuring the health and quality of the population.

In Ta Han village (Nam Cuong commune), there are 108 households, 100% of which are Mong ethnic people. Due to limited awareness of the people and some backward customs still existing, child marriage still occurs. In early 2025 alone, the village recorded 2 cases of child marriage, when the couples were only 15 to 17 years old. Although propaganda work is always focused on, changing people's awareness is still a difficult problem.

According to a professional report, in 2025, the province recorded 25 cases of child marriage and 3 cases of incestuous marriage. In order to prevent this situation, the authorities and local governments have actively carried out propaganda activities to raise awareness among people in ethnic minority areas.

During the 2021-2025 period, the province organized 83 communication conferences on reducing child marriage and incestuous marriage, attracting more than 8,800 delegates including leaders and civil servants working in ethnic affairs; police officers ; leaders of the People's Committees of communes and wards; youth union officials; party cell secretaries, hamlet chiefs, heads of residential groups, heads of front work committees, and groups of minors and youth from disadvantaged ethnic groups.

Currently, functional agencies and local governments continue to promote propaganda, integrating it into meetings, community activities and schools, to raise awareness and change people's behavior, contributing to effectively preventing early marriage and incestuous marriage.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/xa-hoi/202511/ngan-ngua-tao-hon-ket-hon-can-huyet-thong-5616dd9/