Women, Islam, and Modern Family Construction in the Perspectives of Legal Pluralism in Indonesia

Abstract

The Constitutional Court decision in 2010 on the recognition of Siri, an unofficial, unregistered marriage ignited debate in Indonesian society. Even though the main reason of the recognition of Siri is to protect children born from this marriage, allowing Siri marriage will broaden the legal spectrum in the Indonesian Marriage Law and potentially causes legal uncertainty for the perpetrators. It may be argued that the decision is to negotiate legal sources that affect the norms in the marriage law. Yet, this decision has the both positive and negative social impacts. The positive impact of the approval of Siri marriage is the children born from such practices will be able to obtain financial, biological, and psychological protection. The negative impact of the decision is that more Siri marriages in the community will lead to increasingly complex social and legal problems. If the women involved in the marriages have insufficient financial capacity and adequate knowledge, they will be very dependent on their husbands. In the event of a divorce, these women will face more serious psychological and financial problems after marriage.