The Law is Obligatory to Protect Women from Forced Marriage

One of the issues discussed at the Indonesian Women’s Ulema Congress (KUPI) is the protection of women from the dangers of coercion in marriage. Because there are so many bad effects of forced marriage, KUPI decided that it is obligatory to protect women from the dangers of forced marriage.

According to KUPI member Umdah el-Baroroh, Tuesday (7/3), there were several reasons for KUPI to raise the theme of forced marriage. Cases of forced marriage are still a culture that is quite high among the people.

Supreme Court decision data for 2018-2022 shows there were 213 cases of problematic marriages due to forced marriages. Of this number, 119 cases were decided in divorce by the religious courts. Meanwhile, the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) noted that there was a 300 percent increase in cases of forced marriage in line with the increase in cases of child marriage.

Umdah emphasized that the data from the two institutions were not actual facts because many cases of forced marriage were not reported to the relevant institutions.

Cases of forced marriage in Indonesia are increasingly complicated to deal with because they are strengthened by several factors, namely culture, interpretation, religion, and state regulations that provide opportunities for forced marriage to legitimize. Even though Islam prohibits forced marriage according to the arguments in the Al-Quran and the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad.

“Therefore, the KUPI religious meeting decided that the law protecting women from the dangers of forced marriages is mandatory. Likewise, minimizing the adverse effects experienced by women victims of forced marriages, including making laws and regulations that are able to provide guarantees or criminal sanctions for perpetrators of forced marriages is mandatory. Umda said.

Umdah explained that forced marriages have many systemic negative effects. Forced marriage can threaten the safety of a woman’s soul, such as psychological trauma, depression, negative stigma, divorce, family conflict, extramarital affairs, social exclusion, and suicide due to despair.

Forced marriage also has an impact on women’s reproductive function, such as sexual violence in marriage through forced intercourse. Forced marriage threatens to cut off girls’ education. Forced marriages also cause neglect and economic fragility that threatens family unity.

Komnas Perempuan commissioner, Wanti Mashudi explained that one of the causes of cases of forced marriages was cultural factors in several regions.

“But if we then investigate further, even the local adat institution said that the practice was actually one that was not included in adat. It did exist but there was a bit of “abuse” committed by people who really wanted to marry the woman but the woman didn’t want to marry her. married this man,” she said.

Sometimes in some areas there are cases where a woman is forced to marry because for the local community she has been given a stigma, namely when she has been kidnapped or held captive, sexual intercourse must have occurred.

In addition, the police will not follow up on reports of cases of forced marriages because the police consider that there is actually consent from the couple and it is part of the culture.

Wanti added that Komnas Perempuan has the mandate to handle cases of forced marriage involving women over 18 years of age. Meanwhile, handling cases of forced marriage of girls under that age is the mandate of the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI).

He stressed that cases of forced marriages that deprive women of their freedom can be punished. The issue of forced marriage is also regulated in the Sexual Crime Act. The Marriage Law also stipulates that marriage is carried out based on the consent of the bride and groom. [fw/ka]