WESTERN CULTURE PROMOTES DIVORCE

The living planet which we inhabit is an archive of various cultures, civilizations, work-ethics, and life-styles. Besides having such a diversified environment, the one thing which conglomerates the entire humanity is the different forms of emotions - the emotion of love, the emotion of grief, the emotion of joy.....and so on.... These forms of emotions are common in every culture with varying flavors. These emotions are the building-blocks of various relations and relation of a husband and a wife is one such important one in this series. A man and a woman become husband and wife respectively by following a common ritual (though in different formats) world-wide called "Marriage". However, there is also a rival word "Divorce" which provides an element of social-discourse to the issue.

Divorce (or the dissolution of marriage) is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties. In most countries divorce  requires the sanction of a court or other authority in a legal process. The legal process for divorce may also involve issues of spousal support, child custody, child support, distribution of property and division of debt. In most western countries, a divorce does not declare a marriage null and void as in an annulment, but it does cancel the married status of the parties. Where monogamy is law, this allows each former partner to marry another. Where polygamy is legal, divorce allows the women to marry another. Divorce laws vary considerably around the world. Divorce is not permitted in some countries, such as in Malta and in the Philippines, though an annulment is permitted. From 1971 to 1996, four European countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal, & the Republic of Ireland) legalized divorce.

The subject of divorce as a social phenomenon is an important research topic in sociology. In many developed countries, divorced rates increased markedly during the 20th century. Among the nations in which divorce has become commonplace are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Australia. India and Sri-Lanka are the two countries that have the lowest divorce rates around 1% and 1.5% respectively. In this part of Asia, divorce is still very rare, although, it is more common in South-East Asia. In India, for example, arranged marriage is still fairly prominent although not as common as it once was. Divorce is not declared as acceptable as it is in other countries and therefore many either make a problem or remain in unhappy marriages.

On an All-India level, the Special Marriage Act was passed in 1954 and the Hindu Marriage Act, in 1955 which legally permitted divorce to Hindus. Divorce can be sought by husband or wife on certain grounds, including : adultery, cruelty, desertion for two years, religious conversion, mental abnormality, venereal disease and leprosy. Divorce causes great stigma among Hindus, especially those of the higher castes, and thus it is not common in this population. For consensual divorce, there is six months cooling off period after filling the consent terms in court before the divorce is granted. There are different laws for granting divorce in many communities.

In Islamic law and marital jurisprudence, divorce is accepted and referred to as talaq. Khula is the right of a woman in Islam to divorce or separate from her husband. The triple talaq is a mechanism for divorce which exists in sunni sect of Islam while rejected by the shia sect. Talaq (conflict) deals with the relationship between religious and secular systems for terminating the marriage in the conflict of laws.

An annual study in the United States by the Anthropological Issues & Behavioral Organization, estimates the main proximal causes of divorce based on survey of matrimonial lawyers. The main causes concluded in 2009 were :

1. Extra-marital affairs - 27%
2. Emotional/physical abuse - 13%
3. Mid-life crisis - 13%
4. Addictions, e.g. alcoholism & gambling - 6%

A recent survey found that 93% of divorce cases were petitioned by women, very few of which were contested. 53% of divorces were of marriages that had lasted 10-15 years, with 40% ending after 5-10 years. The first five years are relatively divorce free and if a marriage survives more than 20 years it is unlikely to end in divorce.
The age at which a person gets married is also believed to influence the likelihood of divorce, delaying marriage may provide more opportunity or experience in choosing a compatible partner.

As a social institution, marriage provides benefits not only to society as a whole, but also to the people that make up households that include marriage. Social scientists and family experts largely agree that there are many reasons that marriage helps societies, families and individuals stay stronger and healthier.
Here are ten of the many reasons marriage is valued :

1. Within marriages, there is generally less domestic violence toward women and children alike than there is in single parent or cohabitating households.
2. Children with married parents are not only less likely to be the victims of violent crimes, but are also less likely to commit crime or to be incarcerated (the latter applies specially to boys).
3. Children of married parents are more likely to graduate from college and to acquire better jobs.
4. Married ones are tend to be more ambitious, earning more than their single counterparts do even when other life circumstances (education, experience, etc.) are very similar.
5. Married men are less likely to engage in reckless behaviors, which may be attributed to the facts that they have a wife and /or children who depend on them and care for them. This may be one of the reasons for the next entry.
6. Married ones enjoy greater life expectancy than single ones do.
7. Mothers who are married tend to suffer from depression less often than single or cohabitating mothers do.
8. It is widely accepted that married adults, both men and women, tend to be healthier than their single, cohabitating or divorced counterparts are, and that children of married parents enjoy better health on average.
9. Children who grow up with married parents are more likely to stay married themselves, while children of divorced parents are nearly twice as likely to divorce.
10. Marriage may help recede poverty, especially in regard to women and children. A high rate of divorced women, other single parents and their children live in poverty.

The chronology of divorce is an axiom of its negative impact (except in some relevant cases) on the society and its culture should not be allowed to propagate like a cancerous cell. In the current scenario, it is being seen that the culture of divorce is being adopted by the people like a fashion and this must be cursed on every aspect. There are other things to adopt as a fashion, rather to play with such a beautiful relation.

A German philosopher has aptly said "Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate."