KUCHING: The Welfare, Community Well-being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Ministry are monitoring the high divorce rate in Sarawak.
Minister in charge of the ministry in the state, Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said this when asked to comment on the more than 5,000 divorce cases reported in Sarawak from March last year until September this year.
On Nov 9, Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, while replying to Alice Lau Kiong Yieng (DAP-Lanang) during the question and answer session at Dewan Rakyat, said that of the more than 5,000 divorce cases reported in Sarawak from March last year until September this year, 3,582 involved Muslims and 2,076 cases involved non-Muslim couples.
“The ministries, both at the federal and state level, are monitoring the situation,” said Fatimah
“We love to see many people getting married, but we don’t like to see the divorce rate.
“We monitor the statistics yearly and look at the causes of divorce. They are complex as one cause is related to another.”
Fatimah added there were many factors that contributed to divorce including drug-related problems, financial issues, stress, teenage and young marriages.
She revealed that under the Women and Family Department Sarawak and the Social Development Council Sarawak, one of the focus areas was on marriage and divorce.
She pointed out that there were marriage-related courses for couples to strengthen their marriages and family institutions.
Fatimah spoke at a press conference after attending a meeting with the Women and Family Department Sarawak here on Wednesday (Nov 10).
Earlier on, the minister said her ministry was studying how to help women victims of domestic violence and women undergoing divorces who needed legal aid and other assistance. .
She said currently, legal aid was provided by the Legal Aid Department (LAD) but only for cases under the Civil and Syariah Courts.
“In Sarawak, there are three types of courts — Civil, Syariah and Native Courts. But the legal aid by LAD does not cater for cases concerning marriage or divorce under the Native Court.
“Therefore, we see that there is a need for us to look into how we can assist women who are in need of such assistance.
“We are also looking at cases from rural areas who are in need of legal help on Civil, Syariah and Native Laws.
“Those from the rural areas will need assistance not only in terms of legal aid but also financial assistance for transportation fees as well as places to stay,” she explained.
The legal assistance for women was among the topics discussed by the Women and Family Department Sarawak members at the meeting today.
The meeting also focused on women entrepreneurs; ensuring quality education during the Covid-19 pandemic; social well-being; poverty eradication; preparation for an ageing state as well as strengthening unity and solidarity.
