Expert Voices Concern over Polygamy and the Impact on Children

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - An anthropologist with the University of Indonesia (UI) Meutia Hatta Swasono on Wednesday expressed concern about polygamy and how it is solicited in current society through social media for the past three years. She conveyed it in a scientific discussion on ‘poligamy amidst the fight for resilience among families and the nation’ on Wednesday, April 14.

Hatta argued that children who are born from polygamy marriages could potentially lose the drive to achieve their dreams. In fact, the females also will likely to suffer from such a relationship. 

“Children will also suffer and lose their drive to fulfill their dreams and hope to progress,” Meutia Hatta said during the discussion as cited by Antara.

She said there are examples of children who do not continue school due to the lack of tuition fees caused by the lack of income from the father that must split earnings to support the needs of multiple partners and the children.

The daughter of Indonesia’s prominent proclaimer for independence said she regrets attempts made to popularize polygamy based on erroneous cultural and religious interpretation. 

“Problems facing the nation will only get larger if polygamy continues to be popularized and responded to by people who are not aware of the dangers of polygamy,” said Hatta. 

She addressed a troubling ads about polygamy that describes the success of a husband who have four wives and 25 children.

In the same discussion, Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, Bintang Puspayoga, asserted that this practice heavily affects women and causes them to experience “psychological violence and pressure which one of its reasons is because of unfair treatment.” 

Puspayoga added that there are many cases of polygamy marriages that end up with physical abuse. 

Read: House Member Lora Fadil's Polygamy Grabs Public Attention

ANTARA