Human Centred Design to Prevent Child Marriage in Indonesia

Abstract

Many girls in Indonesia lack the information and life skills necessary to navigate the complex worlds they live in, making them vulnerable to teenage pregnancy and child marriage. Around one in nine, or 11% of girls, married before age 18 in 2016 (Susenas). Ultimately, many of these marriages and subsequent dropping out of school are happening due to teenage pregnancy or due to families’ wishing to protect their female children from the stigma of a potential pregnancy out of wedlock. The Human Centered Design (HCD) process inspired innovation and used a user-centred process to design solutions. Adolescents were led through a process of identifying and solving challenges, with consultations with teachers, health workers and parents to understand the greater context. It identified an innovative and gender responsive adolescent friendly information and communication material - a comic book - to close the information gap for adolescents on child marriage, healthy relationships and reproductive health.