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Women protest marriage law in Sulawesi

Detik.com - March 8, 2004

Jafar G. Bua, Palu – International Women’s Day was also commemorated in Palu. Interestingly, women in Palu protested against the marriage law and the issue of polygamy.

The action, which was joined by around 100 women’s activists, students, housewives and sex workers, was held at the Hasanuddin I roundabout at the Palu Shopping Centre in Central Sulawesi on Monday March 8.

During the action they protested against a number of state policies which harm women. They even protested against Law Number 1/1974 on Marriage. They said that the marriage law was a product of state legislation which only benefits men.

“Why do men have the right to have more than one wife as [regulated] by specific stipulations [in the law]. This totally degrades the rights and dignity of women”, they said.

Eko Arianto, the general chairperson of the Central Sulawesi branch of the People’s Democratic Party (PRD) who was leading the demonstration, explained that the PRD and women in Palu reject the criminalisation of prostitution. “We also call on the state to provide guarantees to women workers that they be paid wages in accordance with [what they] produce and the time they work, [they should] not be paid like part-time workers”, he asserted.

The action which was held in the centre of the city ended up blocking traffic flowing through Jalan Sudirman, Hasanuddin, Hasanuddin I and Pattimura. (asy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]