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Jakarta Post

`Nikah siri', polygamy put women, kids in legal limbo

Santi (not her real name), has separated from her husband but by law they still remain married, despite the fact he now lives with a younger wife

Prodita Sabarini (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, March 5, 2009

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`Nikah siri', polygamy put women, kids in legal limbo

S

anti (not her real name), has separated from her husband but by law they still remain married, despite the fact he now lives with a younger wife.

By pronouncing talaq *divorce in Arabic* three times, her husband was able to annul their marriage under Islam.

While her husband's refusal to allow a legal divorce has left Santi virtually abandoned, his younger wife is not necessarily any better off. As their marriage is unregistered, or nikah siri, the new wife has no legal grounds for her marriage and thus cannot register for birth certificates for her children without a legitimate father.

These are just some of the complexities arising from polygamy and unregistered marriages in Indonesia, problems which the government is attempting to curb by drafting a bill with the religious court on marriage. The bill criminalizes unregistered marriages, threatening couples who tie the knot without either the proper documentation or presence of authorized religious officials with fines or jail time. It also tightens the prerequisites of polygamy.

Unregistered marriages are widespread in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation, because they are still recognized under religious law. Meanwhile polygamous marriages, once suppressed in the New Order regime, have become more open and accepted since the reform era.

The Indonesian Women's Association for Justice (LBH Apik) head of Law Changes division Umi Farida said Wednesday that in 2008, the organization received 36 reports of polygamy and 51 extra marital affairs from women, up from only 3 cases of reported polygamy in 2007. In all these reported cases, the husbands took other wives without registering the marriages legally. She said the LBH Apik welcomed the government's attempt to regulate unregistered marriages through the religious ministry, but said it would not be enough without amending the 1974 marriage law.

"Why don't we revise the Marriage Law, which is the root of the problem here?" she said.

According to data from the organization collected between 1995 and 2007, all women who reported polygamous marriages said they had experienced psychological and physical violence. The Marriage Law allows polygamy if a husband receives approval from his wife. Under the law, the prerequisites for taking another wife are if the wife suffers a long-term illness, is barren or cannot fulfill her duties as a wife.

"The marriage law is monogamous in principle. It states a man can take one wife and a woman can take one husband. However, there are articles that annul that, giving room for polygamy," Umi said.

"Polygamy is regulated from the perspective of men. The prerequisites offer solutions to a husband if his wife has shortcomings. It does not give women a solution if the husband is barren or sick. This is an unfair discrimination," Umi said.

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