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Presumed Consent: Marital Violence in Bugis Society
... While many studies of VAW have identified poverty to be a predictor of men's likelihood to commit domestic violence (Bennett, Manderson & Astbury, 2000; WHO, 2002) the existing data for Indonesia does not support the hypothesis that women from higher socio-economic brackets are protected from violence (Idrus, 2003). In fact, in situations where Indonesian women from the middle and upper classes have been subjected to violence from their partners, their relative economic independence has been cited by violent partners as a justification for men's feelings of powerlessness in relation to their wives and their subsequent abuse of their wives (Idrus & Bennett, 2003). The Government of Indonesia (GOI) has been a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women since 1984, yet it was not until over 15 years later, that VAW became an important public concern. ...
... Consequently, women are often under great pressure from their kin not report violence or even to admit to it publicly (Hakimi, Nur Hayati, Marlinawati, Winkvist & Ellsberg, 2001). The social isolation women in abusive relationships often endure compounds feelings of powerlessness, humiliation and depression, and for many women this results in highly detrimental long-term effects on their mental health (Idrus & Bennett, 2003; WHO, 2002). ...
... Good wives are idealised as being self-sacrificing and concerned with the wellbeing of the other family members before they consider their own needs (Djajadiningrat-Nieuwenhuis, 1987). The common notion that a woman should not challenge her husband's authority encourages women to normalise violence as acceptable within marriage (Idrus & Bennett, 2003). Some women explicitly described sex within marriage as a wife's obligation or duty. ...
... In some areas where local Sharia law has been introduced, women are simply not allowed to go out at night. In short, women must work hard at keeping their moral status above suspicion because they, much more so than men, are responsible for maintaining the honor of their families (Idrus & Bennett, 2003). If they move about outside the home with the permission of their husbands, they avoid the risk of public suspicion and shame. ...
... In fact, it may achieve the reverse. In Indonesia, higher education and high income for women constitute both protective factors and risk factors for domestic violence (Idrus & Bennett, 2003), depending on the circumstances. A well-educated woman in a high-paid job can afford to leave an abusive husband and engage a lawyer to protect both her rights and her children. ...
This article explores male perceptions and attitudes toward violence against women in Indonesia. It analyzes interview data from Indonesian men collected as part of a large multimethod Australian government-funded project on masculinities and violence in two Asian countries. Reluctance to talk about violence against women was evident, and the accounts of those men who did respond referred to three justificatory discourses: denial, blaming the victim, and exonerating the male perpetrator. The findings support continuation of government and nongovernmental organization (NGO) projects aimed at both empowering women and reeducating men.
... However, small-scale locally focused research into violence against women has produced important insights. Idrus has investigated the aetiology and impact of domestic violence and marital rape in Bugis society, exploring how hegemonic constructions of gender among the Bugis serve to encourage partner violence against women (Idrus 1999, Idrus & Bennett 2003. In Java, research into new mothers' experiences of domestic and sexual violence has been conducted by Andajani-Sutjahjo, which has provided culturally specific insights into the ways in which poor urban Javanese women are particularly vulnerable to violence during pregnancy and early motherhood (Andajani-Sutjahjo 2003, Andajani-Sutjahjo & Bennett 2008. ...
... [16] Higher education for women has been found to be a both protective factor and a risk factor for domestic violence in different societies. In some instances, male jealousy over a wife's higher educational and financial status within marriage has been found to compound domestic violence (Idrus & Bennett 2003), while improved educational attainment for poor women in the United States has been linked to a greater capacity for women to avoid and leave abusive relationships (Jackson 2007). ...
This article contributes to cross-cultural understandings of gender-based violence by examining women's definitions and experiences of domestic violence in Eastern Indonesia. The research was part of a larger study of human rights in maternal and neonatal health and involved a survey that integrated common anthropological practices in its development and delivery. This survey measured the prevalence of emotional and physical abuse, violence during pregnancy, unwanted sex and fear of violence among a sub-sample of 504 married Muslim women. Standard human rights definitions of violence were adapted to create locally appropriate definitions of economic violence, husband infidelity and unwanted sex within marriage. Survey responses indicated that the majority of women believed verbal abuse, threats of harm, economic violence, physical violence, control of women's mobility and a husband's public infidelity to constitute domestic violence. Our exploration of how Indonesian women understand domestic violence reinforces the salience of cultural specificity for different women's definitions of violence, as well as the applicability of internationally recognised definitions of gender-based violence.
... In Indonesia, such gendered binary have been supported by various cultural and religious discourses. Culturally, breaking the silence around marital sexual violence risks family honour by bringing shame to the whole family (Hayati et al. 2011;Idrus and Bennett 2003;Wieringa 2015). Indonesian researchers have also identified how certain interpretations of religious texts have supported gendered power relations, such as when a wife's complete submission to her husband is understood as a divine order (Munir 2005; Wijaya Mulya 2010). ...
In the age of the ever-expanding Internet, peer engagement encouraged youths to mutually become spokespersons for one another amidst the slew of cultural rhetoric and are responsible for defining identities and subjective norms through the now electronic word-of-mouth. Initially, there existed a conundrum of what qualifies as a Muslim woman in Malaysia through the use of the hijab, or ‘veiling’ oneself with a headscarf—considering that by virtue, the dominating and vast majority of Malay women of the population are born into Islam
... is article argues that the efforts to eliminate violence in households through the promulgation of the UU PKDRT face considerable challenges because the provisions of Indonesian family laws are incompatible with the requirements of the UU PDKRT and women's rights. is incompatibility is worsened by the contributing socio-cultural factors of VAW in the household in Indonesia, including a patriarchal culture, biased religious understandings, and people's perceptions (Bennett and Idrus 2003;Poerwandari 2000;Riggins 2004). ...
Despite the enactment of a specific law on domestic violence, the elimination of violence in the household is still an elusive target in Indonesia. A large number of Muslims’ divorces in the Religious Courts, for example, have involved domestic violence according to the National Commission on Anti Violence against Women. This article aims to discuss the opportunity and challenges of the elimination of domestic violence in the Indonesian Muslim Society. Employing both normative and socio-legal analysis, it finds that the state is unable to resolve the existing conflict between the requirements of the Law – which oblige the state to amend conflicting legislation – and the provisions of both civil and Islamic marriage laws which open the possibility of violence against women in the household. These include gender-role stereotypes, the fuzziness of the obedience concept (nushuz) and linking maintenance to a wife’s obedience, and the ambiguity of marriage validity. This necessitates the reformation of Indonesian marriage laws.
... is article argues that the efforts to eliminate violence in households through the promulgation of the UU PKDRT face considerable challenges because the provisions of Indonesian family laws are incompatible with the requirements of the UU PDKRT and women's rights. is incompatibility is worsened by the contributing socio-cultural factors of VAW in the household in Indonesia, including a patriarchal culture, biased religious understandings, and people's perceptions (Bennett and Idrus 2003;Poerwandari 2000;Riggins 2004). ...
Despite the enactment of a specific law on domestic violence, the elimination of violence in the household is still an elusive target in Indonesia. A large number of Muslims’ divorces in the Religious Courts, for example, have involved domestic violence according to the National Commission on Anti Violence against Women. This article aims to discuss the opportunity and challenges of the elimination of domestic violence in the Indonesian Muslim Society. Employing both normative and socio-legal analysis, it finds that the state is unable to resolve the existing conflict between the requirements of the Law – which oblige the state to amend conflicting legislation – and the provisions of both civil and Islamic marriage laws which open the possibility of violence against women in the household. These include gender-role stereotypes, the fuzziness of the obedience concept (nushuz) and linking maintenance to a wife’s obedience, and the ambiguity of marriage validity. This necessitates the reformation of Indonesian marriage laws.
... While it might be assumed that heteronormative sexualities are privileged, persecution remains within institutions of socially legitimated sexuality. High domestic-violence rates affirm that even within heterosexual marriage, sexual violence occurs (Idrus and Bennett, 2003). ...
Sexual citizenship remains a concept underutilised in Asia, not least because staking
a claim to sexual rights can be dangerous (Mackie, 2017). The notion that citizen
sexuality is properly circumscribed by the state has long been evident,
however. By the post-World War Two era, legitimate Asian subjects were already
clearly defined around notions of proper sexual citizenship, with newly independent
states promoting the nuclear family as a marker of national identity and key to
controlling population and promoting economic growth (Jones, 1995). From
Singapore (Teo, 2011) and Malaysia (Stivens, 2006) to Indonesia (Hoon, 2004),
the ‘Asian family’ became the institution through which individuals were granted
full citizenship (Platt et al., 2018). For instance, in order to access state-funded
housing, reproductive health care, or educational services, individuals needed to be
embedded in recognised familial structures. Indonesia proved an exemplary case,
with President Suharto (1965–98) consolidating power by positioning himself as
father of the nation and proposing the family principle (asas kekeluargaan) to
frame heterosexuality as the proper symbol of citizenship (Bennett, 2005;
Blackburn, 2004; Brenner, 2011). Contemporary notions of sexual citizenship in
Asia stem from this early overt regulation and crafting of the sexual self. Given its
complexity, I explore meanings of sexual citizenship in the second section.
... These include the high incidence of unwanted sex in marriage, women's inability to negotiate condom use with their husbands, and men's extramarital sexual activity. These forms of gender-based violence have been documented among Muslim women of di ferent ethnicities across Indonesia (Idrus and Bennett 2003, , Andajani-Sutjahjo, and Idrus 2011, Nurmila and Bennett 2015, Platt 2017. In a study on women's maternal health and reproductive rights with 500 married Muslim women in Eastern Indonesia, 95 percent agreed that a husband having an a fair constituted a form of domestic violence (Bennett, Andajani-Sutjahjo and Idrus 2011). ...
... Although this phenomenon is not restricted to Islamic settings (Solotaroff and Pande 2014), child marriage in Muslimmajority societies is often framed as a social outcome of religious interpretation and values (Weiss 2014). In this context, divorce is generally stigmatized, and the shame associated with divorce in Muslim-majority Asian countries often prevents women from leaving abusive relationships (Idrus and Bennett 2003;Shaikh 2007). However, there are examples of Muslim societiessuch as the Maldiveswhere divorce practices remained relatively flexible until recently (Fulu 2014), which signals the diversity of beliefs and practices around marriage and divorce within Muslim communities across the region. ...
There is a growing body of research on family relationships and the nature of family violence in Muslim-majority countries of Asia. However, patterns and trends around family dynamics and violence do not remain static. Despite the diversity of South Asian societies, all are being influenced by a constellation of globalized social, economic, political and religious forces that manifest in unique ways in different contexts. To date, there is little written about the implications for women’s rights and gendered violence when globalization remolds religious, cultural, geographic and other social realities. This critical review presents a review of feminist literature on gender, family and violence in Asian Muslim-majority countries – notably Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh – from a feminist globalization theoretical perspective. The article uses the Maldives as a case study to map how globalized socio-economic and political trends are changing the terrain of family and society in ways that both advance and retract women’s rights and contribute to their increased risk of violence. This paper advances the literature on feminist perspectives on family relationships by demonstrating the importance of considering localized problems within a global sphere. This approach will allow researchers to systematically assess the influence of global processes on changing family relations and implications for family structures. The paper concludes with applications for feminist approaches to globalization, gender and violence. In particular, an increased focus on global processes and the shifting dynamics of family relationships will better inform global feminist activism, and feminist activism in Asian Islamic communities.
... (UN General Assembly, 2001) Okin (1989,1997,1998,1999) suggests that minority ethnic women are more vulnerable to oppression and violence than their western counterparts, and Akpinar (2003) says that the reasons for this are rooted in patriarchal cultures imported from the 'homeland'. These include female genital mutilation [FGM] (Stewart 1998, CIMEL/INTERIGHTS 2001, Dorkenoo et al., 2006; forced and false marriage (Southall Black Sisters 2001, Mahoney and Taj 2006, Khanum 2008 Arbitration 2010) -tellingly termed 'statutory rape' by Idrus and Bennett (2003); 57 sex selective abortions (Waldby 2003, Saharso 2005, Puri 2007, Solomon 2007, Thapar-Björkert 2007; so-called honour crimes -including murder (Meeto and Mirza 2007, Macey 2007, Brandon and Hafez 2008, Home Affairs Select Committee 2008 and domestic violence. The latter is the only example given here which has not entered Britain (and wider Europe) via migration, but minority women experiencing abuse are often prevented from seeking help for such reasons as uncertain immigration status (Dilday 2007) and the fear of deportation (Meeto and Mirza 2007), lack of access to English, lack of qualifications and skills (Macey 2008), lack of service provision (Burman and Chantler 2004), lack of professional intervention due to fear of being accused of racism (Patel 1998, Refugee Women's Association 2003, Samaroo 2005, Levitt and Ware 2006, Home Office 2007; and, of course, ethno-religious prohibitions on divorce. ...
... The state chooses not to challenge patriarchal religious and cultural discourses and, as a result, the issue of marital rape remains in the domain of the dominant religious ideology and law alone, which views a woman's sexual refusal as a sin (Idrus and Bennet, 2003). Although there exists many progressive interpretations of Shari'a, or Muslim laws, dealing with marital sexual relations, 32 the hegemonic interpretation in Indonesia deems that according to Islam, marital rape is an impossibility. ...
... Childlessness was a feature of both Salmah's marriages which prompted family and community doubt about her, rather than her husband's, fertility. As other researchers have pointed out (Idrus & Bennett, 2003) for Bugis communities in Indonesia, Salmah's infertility became a predictor of violence. In a case of childlessness in a Tausug marriage in Sabah, the woman is usually suspected of being infertile and is pitied; the man often remarries or takes a second wife; but later if he is proven to be the infertile one, he is ridiculed in the community as 'bakla' (gay). ...
From the 1960s Sabah accepted refugees who fled Mindanao after the war escalated against insurgent Muslim groups. From the 1970s, labour migration to Sabah increased exponentially as Filipinos attempted to escape the structural poverty of their country by ameliorating Malaysia's labour shortage in construction, oil palm and service industries. Various tensions developed in Sabah between migrants, and local communities and the state. Migrant Muslim women in particular experienced violence on a number of different fronts: oppression at the level of citizenship, institutions and culture produced physical, economic and social violence which differentiated their lives from those of both Malaysian citizens and Filipinos in the Philippines. The article addresses, through life narratives, the parameters of such violence and women's resilience, invoking questions of who ought to defend and protect the rights of migrant Muslim women.
This chapter examines how cultural and institutional factors in Indonesia have reinforced sexual violence from the perspective of advocates and supporters of the Sexual Violence Bill (UU TPKS) and how they advocate for change. The activists and ulama we zoom in on are from Komnas Perempuan, (Komisi Nasional Anti Kekerasan terhadap Perempuan), National Commission on Violence against Women, KPAI (Komisi Perlindungan Anak Indonesia; Indonesian Child Protection Commission), the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), KPI (Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia, Indonesia’s Women’s Coalition) and KUPI (Kongres Ulama Perempuan Indonesia, Congress of Indonesian Gender-Just Ulama). Within the broader global discourse on this issue, we introduce the concept of “the opacity of secluded spaces” to capture the tendency of some institutions to facilitate and sustain spatially and ideologically closed systems to which the outside world has minimal access. This concept encapsulates the lack of transparency and the tangible nature of events within physically segregated spaces, particularly in religious schools, where unequal gender and asymmetrical power relations can fuel sexual violence. We argue that the interplay of violence and gender, the opacity of secluded spaces, unequal gender dynamics, asymmetrical power relations, and a lack of oversight all significantly contribute to the perpetuation of sexual violence in such institutions. Methodologically, our analysis draws from discussions with ten activists and ulama, as well as an examination of documents coded using the qualitative data analysis software MAXQDA, including legal documents, news articles, and reports.
Recent years have seen a disturbing surge in media reports of sexual violence in Indonesia. Notably, in June 2021, news emerged of Herry Wirawan, a teacher and owner of the Madani religious boarding school in Bandung, West Java, who had perpetrated heinous acts of sexual violence. This chapter examines how cultural and institutional factors in Indonesia have reinforced sexual violence from the perspective of advocates and supporters of the Sexual Violence Bill (UU TPKS) and how they advocate for change. The activists and ulama we zoom in on are from Komnas Perempuan ( Komisi Nasional Anti Kekerasan terhadap Perempuan ) National Commission on Violence against Women), KPAI ( Komisi Perlindungan Anak Indonesia ; Indonesian Child Protection Commission), the Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet), KPI ( Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia , Indonesian Women’s Coalition) and KUPI ( Kongres Ulama Perempuan Indonesia , Congress of Indonesian Gender-Just Ulama). Within the broader global discourse on this issue, we introduce the concept of ‘the opacity of secluded spaces’ to capture the tendency of some institutions to facilitate and sustain spatially and ideologically closed systems to which the outside world has minimal access. This concept encapsulates the lack of transparency and the tangible nature of events within physically segregated spaces, particularly in religious schools, where unequal gender and asymmetrical power relations can fuel sexual violence. We argue that the interplay of violence and gender, the opacity of secluded spaces, unequal gender dynamics, asymmetrical power relations, and a lack of oversight all significantly contribute to the perpetuation of sexual violence in such institutions. Methodologically, our analysis draws from discussions with ten activists and ulama , as well as an examination of documents coded using the qualitative data analysis software MAXQDA, including legal documents, news articles, and reports.
Contemporary feminist studies have demonstrated how the binary constitution of men as desiring/dangerous and women as non-sexual/vulnerable has enabled, normalised, and sustained intimate partner sexual violence against women. Such binary positioning has given rise to gendered religious and sexual subjectivities that severely constrain women’s sexual agency. However, only a few studies have explored the ways this binary might be contested in one’s becoming of a sexual subject, particularly the identification of alternative discourses one’s may draw upon to challenge the dominant one. Seeking to fill this gap, this chapter presents four vignettes of resistance which might rework this gendered positioning among young Indonesian Christians vis-à-vis intimate partner sexual violence. The analysis revealed that these young participants drew on various alternative discourses to which they have access – from feminist, religious, to same-sex sexuality – to give new meanings to men and women as sexual subjects and resist the normalisation of intimate partner sexual violence.
Psychological literature suggests that parents play a valuable role in children’s academic development across cultural communities. Research on this topic, however, is limited among non-Western families and especially South Asian families. Couched within the bioecological systems theory, this chapter discusses parental roles in children’s academic socialization and its link to early childhood development in South Asian families. Historically, deep-rooted yet diverse traditions of cultural and religious beliefs and social norms define parental practices and underscore the importance of parents’ high expectations and engagement in children’s education across South Asian societies. Based on the extended family network and intact family environment, parents, especially fathers, observe sociocultural and religious values by showing high involvement in children’s educational activities. Contemporary parents across economic, social, residential, and religious groups are moving away from the gender-linked model of academic socialization. These changes encourage both male and female children to be equally successful in school. Parents’ engagement demonstrates positive developmental outcomes in children. These findings are discussed in relation to evolving socioeconomic praxes and age-old cultural and religious values.
The Indonesian government introduced the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Household in 2004 as a criminal-justice response to violence within the household. After more than a decade, it remains unclear how effective the law has been. Weak law enforcement, contrasting societal perceptions, structural barriers, and lack of access to effective support services and interventions are some of the challenges behind the under-reporting of domestic violence. This article discusses the work of women's organizations at the local level to address domestic violence, since the law itself stipulates a role for both government and non-governmental organizations. A case study of a women's legal aid organization in Sulawesi, lbh apik Makassar, reveals how local activists help women to exercise agency and take action to achieve social and legal justice by working with women who experience domestic violence.
This paper examines women’s experience of domestic violence within marriage in Makassar, South Sulawesi. It analyses the meaning of marriage for men and women, the roles of men and women within marriage, shifts in marriage practices – particularly the shift from arranged to “love” marriage – and unequal gender positions within marriage. We discuss some salient issues in the “margins of marriage” in Indonesia: polygyny and constructions of masculinity that condone the practice of polygyny/affairs, and attitudes towards divorce, particularly for women. We then examine women’s perception of the causes and triggers of domestic violence as revealed by fieldwork data, using the lens of women’s agency. Our findings are that women perceive that their expressions of agency – for instance in challenging men’s authority, moral righteousness and adequacy as breadwinners – are the most common triggers for male violence within marriage. Finally, we discuss the difficulty for women of escaping domestic violence, thereby getting some purchase on the relative capacity of women to resist, deflect or deal with the violence.
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