Contract Marriage Is Increasing: Not Only Caused By Poor Materials, But Also Knowledge And Information

Contract marriage practices that are rampant in various regions in Indonesia are not only caused by economic factors, but lack of information and knowledge. (Pixabay / Waldryano)

JAKARTA - Contract marriage practices are still rampant in Indonesia, with West Java being called one of the locations for the proliferation of this practice. Various efforts made by the government and the National Commission on women are considered in vain. Economic factors and lack of understanding about the law of marriage are still considered to be the cause of the high practice of contract marriage.

It was recently reported that two female pimps, RN (21) and LR (54), were arrested by the police after selling Cianjur girls with contract marriage mode to foreign men from various countries. Contract marriage has also become a new mode in the case of the People's Court (TPPO) that occurred in Indonesia.

According to the Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Cianjur Police, Adjunct Commissioner Tono Listianto, this person's trade case was uncovered after one of six victims reported that they felt trapped by the two suspects to serve a man from the Middle East with a dowry of Rp. 100 million.

"We arrested RN and LR, the perpetrators of TIP, with the mode of contract marriage. The perpetrators have been carrying out their actions since 2019 and the victim was promised to get money ranging from Rp. 30 million to Rp. 100 million, but divided into two with the perpetrators," he said when releasing the case.

The man involved in the practice of contract marriage is not only from the Middle East, but also from India to Singapore. It was even revealed that the girl who was the victim of contract marriage was on average a dozen years old and still in school. They were sold during the school holiday.

It is not known for certain since when the practice of contract marriage occurred, but over time, the issue of contract marriage has indeed become a very complicated problem. There have been many female victims from the occurrence of this contract marriage.

In August 2022, for example, a mother in Depok sold her biological child to an Egyptian foreigner to marry a contract worth Rp. 100 million.

The practice of contract marriage in the Puncak area, Bogor Regency, has even become a common secret. Although local officials often carry out raids, this practice continues to develop. Ironically, it is not uncommon for women who marry contracts to become victims of violence.

In 2021, a woman named Sarah in Cianjur, West Java, died after being doused with hard water by her husband, who is a Saudi Arabian foreigner named Abdul Latif. They married in a serial marriage status with an agreement or so-called contract marriage.

Unfortunately, the incident occurred shortly after the Cianjur Regency Government issued a regent regulation which is expected to prevent the practice of contract marriage in the area. According to Cianjur Regent Herman Hermansyah, the regulation is not strong enough to hinder the practice of contract marriage because the nature of Perbup is only an appeal, and does not contain sanctions.

Economic factors are recognized as one of the causes of the proliferation of contract marriage practices. The lure of paying a dozen to hundreds of millions for women who are willing to marry a contract is difficult to refuse. Not to mention the shadow of a happy life after marrying a foreign man.

Indeed, many women who are married to contracts feel that their economic life has increased after being proposed by foreign men for a certain period of time. But beautiful stories do not always approach all women who are married to contracts. The story of a woman in Cianjur who was doused with hard water to death at a young age is one example.

Regrets for being willing to marry under the contract were also expressed by the woman who was sold by RN and LR. Shadow of being a wife who was bombarded with lost love. The husband turned out to be often rude, the promised money and luxury items were not there. Not to mention the gossip of neighbors for committing contract marriages.

Magdalena Sitorus, founder of the Women's Writing Movement, as well as a former Commissioner of the National Commission for Women, said that the practice of TIP under the guise of contract marriage is a form of exploitation of women.

He said women are one of the vulnerable groups, apart from children. So it's no wonder that women are often exploited by utilizing their vulnerability, one of which is poverty.

But Magdalena assesses that poverty in terms of materialism is not the only factor of contract marriage. There is a poverty in knowledge and information that occurs in women who are victims.

"Not only economic factors, these cases also need to be seen as cases of exploitation of women who see women as objects," Magdalena said in June 2019.

"They don't know the impact of contract marriage practices so they are easily deceived, promised to have a better life," added Magdalena.

Meanwhile, the Daily Chair of the Cianjur Women and Children Empowerment Service Center (P2TP2A), Lidya Indayani Umar, said that apart from economic factors, the practice of contract marriage that is rampant in her area is also due to lifestyle.

Women from the underprivileged hope that contract marriage can help the family's economy, while for teenagers from the middle to upper class who are trapped in contract marriage because of their lifestyle, namely to buy luxury goods.