Aid in Action

Sitting in Judgment: Upholding the Rights of Women in Islamic Courts

The 2004 tsunami made dramatic, dynamic changes within Acehnese families.

Banda Aceh, Indonesia | Sunday, May 13, 2007

The 2004 tsunami made dramatic, dynamic changes within Acehnese families. In some cases it brought women more opportunities – or pressure – to work. In others, it rendered men unable to provide for and protect their families. 

Yang Mulia Rosmawardani is a judge for Banda Aceh’s Mahkamah Syari’ah – or Sharia Court. She is also the director of Putroe Kandee – or ‘Enlightening Women’ – a USAID program to support continuing education for Islamic Court Judges. These judges, and their decisions, play an enormous role in local communities. They are the legal interpreters of family law; dealing with marital issues, divorce and its implications, inheritance and child custody rights.

A formidable yet petite woman, Ibu Ros, as she is called, is committed to raising the awareness of Acehnese Islamic jurists and officials to gender issues. In 2006, USAID sponsored a new training course to expand education for Islamic judges and other officials. To date, 67 people have taken the course, including 11 women.

The increase in family court cases – many of them now brought by women – has borne out the importance of broadening the education of these family court judges. Immediately following the tsunami, the small Acehnese village of Takengon saw 167 divorce cases, 51 citing domestic violence, 29 citing inheritance and economic problems. It was as if the tsunami washed the deepest of Acehnese family problems out into the open along with their worldly belongings.

“Had we employed gender analysis at the time; if a gender perspective had been applied to the laws on domestic violence, to Sharia ruling methods, we would not have ordered these couples to work out their violence-ridden marriages. It would have changed the way we approached our jobs to uphold family law in Aceh,” says Ibu Ros.

Ros says the course work is much needed, although from her viewpoint, the need is somewhat one-sided. “Our male judges don’t understand women’s issues. Men don’t pay attention to women in a divorce. They need to see that our existing alimony standards are too low, way below the cost of living,” she says adamantly. “We need to rearrange law in child protection cases, in cases of irreconcilable differences.”

A judge for more than 35 years, Ros finds her impatience with her male counterparts is advancing with her years on the bench. “If the judges do not change to accommodate women, more young women will be lured by traffickers who promise them greater economic opportunity elsewhere.” 

While perplexed at an inability to embrace issues of gender on the part of her male counterparts, Ibu Ros has no qualms about butting heads with them on legal issues. Ros has eight siblings, six of them boys. Her parents, she says, instilled her sense of equality. “They treated us all the same.”

Yang Mulia Rosmawardani believes further judicial education is the way to a better future for Islamic society. “We need more training,” she says vehemently, “training of trainers…this all needs to expand.” To date, 67 of 214 court judges have been trained – 11 of them women.

In many cases, Islamic court judges are also its religious preachers. “Because we preach, we have a ready-made audience for our views on Islam and its tenets,” Ros explains. And if the problems of Islamic society are more apparent to the West now than before, Ros says it is all the better for her society. “People outside the world of Islam need to understand that Islam loves women. That in Islam, emancipation of women is mandated. Islam,” she says finally, “is a peaceful religion. Its practitioners live in peace.”