Nurfika Osman – A controversial group calling itself the "Obedient Wives Club" may open a branch in Jakarta this month.

According to a report by the New Straits Times, a third branch of the group, which urges members to be "a first-class prostitute" and obey their husbands to curb social ills such as divorce and domestic violence, plans to open in Jakarta on June 19.

Global Ikhwan is the same group behind the Malaysian Global Ikhwan Polygamy Club, which opened a branch in Bandung in October 2009.

"A good wife is perceived to be prim and proper – you just take care of the children – – but not much is emphasized on fulfilling sexual needs of the husband. If he needs sex, obey him," Rohaya Mohamad, the group's vice president, was quoted as saying over the weekend during the club's inaugural meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Attempts to reach the group were unsuccessful on Monday. Indonesian women's rights groups told the Jakarta Globe they had never met anyone from the Bandung polygamy club. Moreover, if the group did open a branch in Jakarta, activists said it would be yet another indication of backward treatment toward women.

"This is a violation of women because women have the right to be independent and to be respected as human beings," said Husein Muhammad, a theologian who is also a commissioner of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan). "I see this as a new style of slavery, and sadly, they do this in the name of religion."

Husein said people who treated women that way did not know how to interpret the meaning of Islam. "I am more disappointed because Indonesia also has discriminatory bylaws," he said.

Based on Komnas Perempuan data in 2010, there are currently 189 discriminatory bylaws in the country, including one in the South Pesisir district of West Sumatra that demands female employees and high school girls wear Islamic clothing, and one in Tangerang that states women caught in public after midnight are considered prostitutes and may be arrested by authorities.

"This is happening because the nation ignores the rights of the women,. This is against the national constitution," he said. However, Husein said it was better to ignore the group.

"We do not have to give publication space to a group like this," he said. "I also do not see this group as a threat. Their existence will not affect other people to create the same group."