Crisis prompts rise in divorce

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: Divorces in the Purwokerto and Banyumas areas have shown a marked increase since the country was hit by the economic crisis last year.

Officials of the two religious courts told The Jakarta Post that 70 percent of divorces in the area had been attributed to financial reasons due to the turmoil in the economy. Prior to the crisis, the issues of responsibility and moral obligations were the most frequently cited reasons.

A. Nug Muslim, head of the Banyumas religious court, said there had been a steady increase in the number of divorces filed by the court.

He said that in 1996, there was an average of 61 divorces filed each month, while in 1997 the average was 68. In February of this year, 105 divorces were filed and last month's figure totaled 79.

Similarly, Djamhuri, head of the Purwokerto religious court, said divorces filed in the past three months in his area averaged a staggering 125 cases per month. During the same period last year, the average was "just" 60 to 70 cases.

They both said close to 90 percent of the cases were filed by women who complained that their husbands were no longer able to materially provide for them or that they had been left by their spouses for too long under the excuse of going off to find work. (45)