Jakarta Globe, Nurfika Osman, May 20, 2010
The number of divorces registered by the country’s Islamic courts has been rising sharply in recent years, despite a costly ongoing government program that provides counseling to couples planning to wed.
According to court data, registered divorces jumped by 37 percent to 257,780 last year. And the 2008 figure was an increase of 19 percent over the previous year.
According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, about two million Muslim couples around the country get married each year.
“It keeps increasing, and that makes us worried,” Abdul Rohadi Fatah, director for Islam and Shariah law at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.
He said that the alarming figures meant that a government program to educate people about marriage values was all the more important.
“We are responsible to teach Muslims about the meaning of marriage and how they can build a good family based on Islamic values, in order to lower the [divorce] rate,” Rohadi said. “God hates divorce, even though God does not forbid it.”
The government program, which is not compulsory, provides guidance and counseling to couples intending to marry. It includes support from specialized teachers at the ministry and the marriage registry office. Once couples have undertaken the course, which lasts between one to three days, a certificate of completion is issued.
Counseling courses have already been held in Batam this year for about 15 couples. Similar courses have been planned for East and West Java, Banten, Jambi and West Sumatra provinces later in the year.
Although Rohadi said the program had been in place for more than 20 years, he did not say how many people had taken part.
He also declined to comment on whether the courses were effective or whether the program had ever been evaluated.
With this year’s program in Batam costing about Rp 200 million ($22,000), however, the price tag seems steep and the results uncertain, activists said.
“That amount of money for 30 people is too expensive,” said Masruchah, deputy chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan).
“It is a waste, as domestic violence continues to occur and divorce rates are not getting lower.”
“The course cannot guarantee a marriage will last forever and I do not think that it is effective to curb the divorce rate,” she added.
Masruchah said the government program should be reviewed and strict monitoring put in place to ensure the project’s effectiveness.
Najib Anwar, head of the ministry’s division that oversees family harmony, told the Globe that the three main reasons behind the sharp rise in the divorce rate were infidelity, greater awareness of gender equality among women and political differences in the family.
“The first five years of marriage is crucial for couples, and they tend to cheat on their partners,” he said.
“Women are now also more empowered to face their husbands to ask for a divorce as they are more aware of gender equality. We feel like emancipation is now a threat to marriage.”
Rohadi echoed Najib’s sentiments, adding that women, especially since the Reform Era of the late 1990s, were better educated and knew what they wanted.
“But they need to understand that religion and family should be the priority,” he said.
Masruchah criticized the ministry’s “male-oriented” views, saying that men and women had equal rights and equal responsibilities.
“Blaming women for this [increase in divorce rates] means that they do not want women to be smart,” she said.
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