"If many couples divorce every year and the trend continues , it`s not impossible that this nation will eventually destroy itself," Saerodji said.Bandung, W Java (ANTARA News) - Around ten percent of married couples in Indonesia divorce every year, according to data of the religious affairs ministry.
"Every year there are two million couples that get married, but on the other hand, 10 percent of the number ends in divorce annually," Saerodji, the head of the West Java provincial religious affairs office, said quoting the ministry`s data, here on Monday.
He expressed deep concern over the high divorce rate in Indonesia, because he believed it could affect the survival of the nation.
"If many couples divorce every year and the trend continues , it`s not impossible that this nation will eventually destroy itself," Saerodji said.
A divorce does not only affect the couple but also their children, he said.
"Divorces produce broken-home children," he said, adding that therefore, it was important to launch a harmonious family program in West Java.
The number of divorces registered by the country`s Islamic courts has been rising sharply in recent years, despite a costly ongoing government program that provides counseling to couples planning to wed.
According to court data, registered divorces jumped by 37 percent to 257,780 in 2009. And the 2008 figure was an increase of 19 percent over the previous year.
Three main reasons behind the sharp rise in the divorce rate were infidelity, greater awareness of gender equality among women and political differences in the family.
Almost 70 percent of those applying for divorce were women, and only 30 percent of husbands wanted to divorce their wives.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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