T

he National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) has urged the government to speed up an amendment to the 1974 Marriage Law to strengthen principles of monogamy.

In the current text, the law upholds principles of monogamy but provides conditions in which husbands are allowed to have more than one wife.

The commission said that banning polygamy would be a positive move because polygamy could trigger violence against women.

It also raises concerns over a recent Defense Ministry circular that said polygamy was permitted under certain conditions.

'€œThe [Defense] Ministry issued such letter at a time when an amendment to the Marriage Law was included in [National Legislation Program] 2015-2019,'€ said Komnas Perempuan deputy chairman Budi Wahyuni on Tuesday.

The commission reported 71 polygamy cases involving public officials that ended up in sexual abuse this year.

'€œFor whatever reason, we don'€™t approve polygamy,'€ she said.

The commission is proposing that the government amend the Marriage Law, specifically articles 3, 4 and 5, which support polygamy.

Article 3 stipulates that only men are allowed to practice polygamy while Article 4 stipulates that courts will only allow men to have multiple wives under certain conditions, including being married to woman who is suffering from a serious illness and unable to bear a child.

Budi said, however, that such conditions were not valid reasons for the government to allow polygamy.

Article 5 states that men who wish to be polygamous must present written consent from their wife and show evidence of enough income to support multiple wives by presenting their income tax return. He must also make a written statement promising to treat his family fairly.

'€œWives are often forced to sign agreements that permit their husband to practice polygamy, how are you going to measure it?'€ Budi asked.

Law expert Bivitri Susanti of the Center of Indonesian Legal and Policies Studies (PSHK) shares the same view.

She said that the law was outdated and need to be revised according to the current understanding of women'€™s rights.

'€œThe government should not allow polygamy as it is hard to determine how secure one'€™s finances are to afford more than one wife, and how fair is fair enough,'€ Bivitri told The Jakarta Post.

She added that if it was necessary to permit polygamy, religious law should oversee and validate it, not the state.

The Defense Ministry'€™s circular that allows polygamy spread on social media, raising concerns from the public.

The ministry'€™s spokesman, Brig. Gen. Djundan Eko Bintoro, confirmed that his institution had produced the letter to remind the ministry'€™s civil servants about the requirements they should fulfill should they want to marry again.

He said that the ministry had earlier fired some officials who were found to practice polygamy without fulfilling the requirements.

'€œSo we only reminded and emphasized because we see there are more and more officials practicing polygamy without fulfill the requirements. Trouble with their families will impact work performance,'€ Eko said as quoted by kompas.com.

He cited examples of officials who married again without consent from their wives, let alone their workplaces. (rbk)