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| Indonesia | |
 Flag of Indonesia | |
| Population (in Mil.) | 243 |
 Sex Ratio (m/f)
| 1,00 |
 Life Expectancy Ratio (f/m)
| 1.06 |
 Fertility Rate
| 2.19 |
 Income Ratio (f/m)
| 0.44 |
 Literacy Ratio (f/m)
| 0,92 |
 Tertiary Enrolment Ratio (f/m)
| 0,79 |
 Women in Parliament (in %)
| 11,3 |
| SIGI Rank | 55 |
| More information on variables | |
| Did you know that Indonesia ranks number 55 of 102 countries on the OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index? To learn more, see the official country note "Gender Equality and Social Institutions in Indonesia" at genderindex.org: | |
Contents |
Social Institutions
Over 85 percent of Indonesia’s 235 million citizens are Muslims, making it the most populous Muslim country in the world. Alongside secular laws, Islamic principles and traditional customs affect the lives of Indonesian women and their situation varies between different regions and ethnic groups. Much of Indonesian legislation emphasises the importance of equal opportunities for men and women, but typical stereotypes and sex roles prevail in rural Indonesia, where the man is seen as the bread winner and the woman as the mother and wife. While 50 percent of Indonesian women are economically active, only 30 percent constitute salaried employees outside the agriculture sector.
Family Code
The legal age of marriage is 16 years for women and 18 years for men. Early marriages are prevalent in rural Indonesia and it is not uncommon for 16-year-old girls to be married to men much older than themselves. Marriage patterns vary between regions and ethnic groups, however. According to a 1998 National Social Economic Survey, as many as 16 percent of girls in West Java were married before the age of 16. The UN (2004) estimates that 13 percent of all Indonesian girls between 15 and 19 years of age are married, divorced or widowed. In some parts of Indonesia, the registration of marriage is dependent on evidence that the marriage is neither forced nor polygamous (UNICEF, 2001). Islamic law allows for polygamy and a Muslim man may take as many as four wives, provided that he treats them fairly and can provide adequate financial support. The Marriage Law of 1974 states that a man can have multiple wives only when his first wife is: (i) unable to carry out her responsibility as a wife; (ii) suffering from a physical disability or falls victim to an incurable disease; or (iii) unable to bear children. Indonesian civil servants may not practice polygamy and the government recently proposed to extend this restriction to all public servants, leading to protests among the country’s Muslim parties (BBC News, 2006). Parental authority is granted equally to men and women, although the Marriage Law considers the man to be the head of the household. Practical household duties, including child rearing, generally falls on the woman. While Islamic law - as well as many traditional customs - favours male heirs over female, inheritance practices vary between different regions and ethnic groups. In some societies, for example, land rights are passed down by matrilineal principles, i.e. between women (Cunningham, 2007).
Physical Integrity
Female genital mutilation is practiced in some parts of the country, but the ritual is said to be largely symbolic and not constituting a real threat to women’s health. Following a ban by the Ministry of Health in April 2006, official doctors and nurses may not perform any kind of FGM. Thus far, violators of the ban who have performed symbolic female circumcision have not faced prosecution (U.S. Department of State, 2007). Violence against women is common, although data is scarce. Domestic violence is considered a private matter and incidents are rarely reported. According to a 2003 Demographic and Health Survey, almost 25 percent of ever-married women agree that a husband is justified in beating his wife for at least one of the following reasons: (i) she burns the food; (ii) she argues with him; (iii) she goes out without telling him; (iv) she neglects the children or; (v) she refuses to have sex with him. Rape is punishable, but the legislation fails to address spousal rape. While sexual harassment is considered a crime, the Ministry of Health reported in 2004 that 90 percent of women (and 25 percent of men) admitted to having been subjected to some form of sexual harassment in the workplace (U.S. Department of State, 2007). Trafficking and prostitution pose serious problems and the victims, mainly poor and uneducated girls and women, are left with both physical and psychological scars.
Civil Liberties
Women enjoy freedom of movement, although locally imposed restrictions based on Sharia may apply in certain areas. One example is the regulation issued in 2005 in Tangerang, Banten, which prohibits women who “behave as prostitutes” and are unaccompanied by male relatives to frequent public areas after nightfall (U.S. Department of State, 2007). Women can apply for passports independently. Similarly, there are no national restrictions on women’s freedom of dress, but some regions nevertheless impose a dress code. Women in Banda Aceh are expected to dress in compliance with Sharia and female civil servants in West Sumatra, regardless of religious belonging, are required to wear headscarves.
Ownership Rights
The Civil Code stipulates that men and women have the same legal capacity and as such women have the right to own and manage land. Some societies even favour women in terms of land inheritance. More common, however, are patriarchal traditions and norms that limit women’s access to productive resources (FAO, 2005). It can also be noted that land in many areas is considered communal property of local groups of people. Women also have the legal right to own property other than land. In the event of divorce, men and women keep whatever property they owned prior to the marriage and they are to divide any joint property equally between them. Finally, there are no legal restrictions on women’s access to bank loans and credit. Women also have the legal right to conclude various contracts, although some discrimination can be observed in reality. For example, a husband is entitled to a private tax number, whereas a wife must be accommodated by her husband in this regard.
In the News
- IRIN Asia 07.06.2010 :INDONESIA: Aceh laws discriminate against women
- IRIN Asia 17.05.2010 : INDONESIA: Gender inequality endangers women’s health
- VOANews.com 10.05.2010 : Filmmakers in Indonesia Share Women's Stories About Life Under Islamic Law
Sources
- BBC News, Indonesia Head Mulls Polygamy Ban, December 7, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific.
- CEDAW (2005), Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of States parties, Indonesia, CEDAW/C/IDN/4-5.
- Cunningham, C (2007), Indonesia – Inheritance, available at http://family.jrank.org/pages/867/Indonesia-Inheritance.html.
- FAO (2004), Fact Sheet Indonesia: Women in Agriculture, Environment and Rural Production, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok.
- OECD (2006), The Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base, www.oecd.org/dev/gender/gid.
- United Nations (2004), Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Fertility Report, New York.
- U.S. Department of State (2007), Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006: Indonesia.
- Badan Pusat Statistik-Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and ORC Macro (2003), Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey 2002-2003, Calverton, Maryland, USA: BPS and ORC Macro.
The Women, Business and the Law
Where are laws equal for men and women? 
The Women, Business and the Law report presents indicators based on laws and regulations affecting women's prospects as entrepreneurs and employees. Several of these indicators draw on the Gender Law Library, a collection of over 2,000 legal provisions impacting women's economic status. This report does not seek to judge or rank countries, but to provide information to inform discussions about women’s economic rights. Covering 128 economies, Women, Business and the Law provides data covering 6 areas: accessing institutions,using property, getting a job, dealing with taxes, building credit, and going to court.Read more about the methodology.
For detailed information on Indonesia, please visit the Women, Business and
the Law Indonesia page.
