Reasons Behind Surabaya's Block on 8,000 Ex-Husbands Failing to Support Former Wives and Children

The Surabaya City Government (Pemkot) in East Java has taken firm action against thousands of men neglecting their post-divorce obligations. At least 8,180 ex-husbands in Surabaya are now at risk of being unable to access civil registry (adminduk) services due to failing to provide maintenance for their former wives and children. This step was taken by Pemkot in relation to data from the Surabaya Religious Court (PA) as of Wednesday (1/4), which shows thousands of men have yet to fulfil obligations for iddah maintenance, mut’ah payments, and child support as per court decisions. Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi emphasised that this policy was actually initiated in 2023. He stated that it aims to safeguard the future of children who are victims of divorce so they continue to receive a decent standard of living. “I’ve been implementing this since 2023. Because I see that divorced people must not damage the character and soul of a child. Usually, for older people, seniors, whose parents are divorced, afterwards they don’t think about their wife. The men don’t provide maintenance because every court decision includes a ruling for him to support his wife and child,” said Eri in Surabaya on Wednesday (1/4). He expressed regret over the attitude of ex-husbands who often shirk responsibility after separation, leaving women and children as the most disadvantaged parties. “What about the fate of a woman? What about the fate of a child? If men don’t take responsibility—whether marrying, divorcing, or protecting—then it shouldn’t be like that. If you’re going to marry, you should be ready in body and soul to support a wife and child,” he said. Head of the Surabaya Civil Registry and Population Agency (Dispendukcapil), Eddy Christijanto, explained that the ‘blocking’ system for irresponsible ex-husbands operates through data integration between Pemkot and the Religious Court. Technically, Eddy said, every ex-husband who has not settled financial obligations will trigger a warning (notice) in the population application. “Dukcapil has an application connected to the Religious Court where, when a divorce case appears in the judge’s ruling, it instructs Pemkot Surabaya not to provide public services until the ex-husband fulfils his obligation to pay child maintenance, mut’ah maintenance, and iddah maintenance,” said Eddy. Eddy clarified that the residents’ civil status is not permanently blocked, but access to services is temporarily closed until the ex-husband meets his maintenance obligations to his former wife and child. Through integration in the Klampid New Generation (KNG) application, men found evading maintenance will not be able to process any adminduk requests without proof of settlement from the Religious Court. “It’s not [permanently blocked]. But the civil registry service will show a notice and will not proceed. In E-Kitir, it will state that the applicant has not fulfilled the obligation under Religious Court decision number such and such. They must report to the PA first, and after payment, the system will automatically open,” he said.