Female Penghulu: Opportunities and Problems Within Indonesia's Civil Law System

Hakim, Abdul, Hamidah, Tutik and Hamdan, Ali (2026) Female Penghulu: Opportunities and Problems Within Indonesia's Civil Law System. Female Penghulu: Opportunities and Problems Within Indonesia's Civil Law System, 3 (1). pp. 1-16. ISSN 3047-0692

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Abstract

This research is motivated by the shortage of functional penghulu officers, which has become a serious concern for the Government of Indonesia, particularly the Ministry of Religious Affairs. This condition has the potential to affect the quality of public services in marriage registration, family guidance, and the provision of legal certainty for the community. To address the emergency shortage of penghulu personnel, it is necessary to consider providing equal access for women to occupy the position of penghulu, which has traditionally been dominated by men. Accordingly, this research aims to conduct a comprehensive normative legal study on the opportunities and challenges faced by female penghulu within Indonesia’s civil law system, which serves as the positive legal framework governing penghulu affairs. This study employs a normative legal research method using statutory and conceptual approaches. The primary legal materials consist of laws and regulations directly related to the appointment, duties, and authority of penghulu.The findings indicate that opportunities for female penghulu within Indonesia’s civil lawsystem are constitutionally valid, legally open, and not subject to explicit normative prohibitions. However, several challenges remain. These arise when female penghulu are required to act as court-appointed marriage guardians (wali hakim) or are entrusted with delegated guardianship (taukil wali), as civil law requires such roles to be performed by males. Another significant obstacle is the existence of gender-specific requirements in the recruitment process, as stipulated in the Announcement Letter on the Recruitment of Civil Servant Candidates issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Keywords:	Civil Law; Female Penghulu; Gender Equality; Marriage Guardianship; Women’s Access.
Subjects:	22 PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES > 2204 Religion and Religious Studies > 220403 Islamic Studies > 22040301 Al-Quran, Tafsir and related science 22 PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES > 2204 Religion and Religious Studies > 220403 Islamic Studies > 22040304 Fiqh, Ushul Fiqh, Islamic Jurisprudence, and related science 22 PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES > 2204 Religion and Religious Studies > 220403 Islamic Studies > 22040308 Islamic Studies not elsewhere classified
Divisions:	Faculty of Sharia and Law > Department of Al-Quran and Tafseer studies
Depositing User:	Ali Hamdan
Date Deposited:	10 Jul 2026 15:41

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