WOMAN’S EFFORTS OF SELF DEFEND: GENDER EQUALITY AND MARITAL RAPE, CLAUSE 477

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explains the important of woman’s self defends on criminal law clause 477 of Marital Rape as the legal law in Indonesia. This study shows that there is legal power for women who are oppressed, harassed and persecuted as a form of sexual harassment in the household. Some classic problems are; miss communication between couples, an excessive fear, limited space for women to express their feelings, and selfish couple. This will cause ongoing psychological and physical harm to women if she remained silent and do not defend themselves. Therefore, women's rights must be upheld, defended and fought for. The qualitative method with a normative juridical approach is used to explain what, why and how women fight for their rights to defend themselves from the injustice they receive. The results of this study explain that the criminal clause 477 when faced with another law, namely the Compilation of Islamic Law, clause 84, has juridical contradictions, causing rejection of invitations for sexual relations in the household to result in “Nusyus” (disobedience). On the other hand, Equality Before The Law can be used as a basic law for oppressed women to voice their opinions according to their conscience without fear or weakness. The importance of communication between partners, physical strength, mental strength and religious understanding are the complete strength that women must have in facing the problems they face. So, there are no domestic disputes that make women feel physically and mentally abused.