Contract marriages to be studied

JAKARTA: State Minister of Women's Empowerment Sri Redjeki Soemaryoto announced on Monday that her office would investigate the phenomenon of contract marriages between local women and foreigners in Singkawang, West Kalimantan, which frequently harms the local women.

"We shall go to Singkawang to observe the situation early in January," Sri said.

She said that the research would be aimed at gleaning information about the issue. She added that she once asked the local administration about it, and it did not deny that such marriages took place in the region.

Contract marriages are widespread in West Kalimantan, with local parents allowing their daughters to marry foreigners in the hope that they will help lift them out of poverty.

On the other hand, foreigners go to Singkawang mainly because of their difficulty in finding a life partner in their own country. For this, they are willing to offer a large dowry. --Antara