One article states wives “are responsible for managing household affairs as best as possible”, in addition to maintaining the household’s unity and serving her family members.

Meanwhile, the husband’s duties are confined to supporting and protecting the family.

The articles may have gone largely unnoticed in the 1974 Marriage Law; but the new bill sparked heated debates for perceived efforts to enforce women domestication, not to mention the strengthening of the patriarchal values in today’s Indonesia.

Ironically, three out of five of the bill’s endorsers are women lawmakers, namely Ledia Hanifa and Netty Prasetiyani from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Endang Maria Astuti from Golkar.

Worse, the anti-sexual violence bill has not been passed yet, even as reports of sexual assault remain rampant. These lawmakers are supposed to represent women who relentlessly advocate gender-equitable policies, but they have failed miserably in doing so.

Women’s representation in the House of Representatives grew to 20.5 percent in the 2019 general election, the highest figure since the 2003 law on legislative elections introduced the gender quota.