Divorce in Muslim Families: A common phenomenon, Bangladesh perspective

Abstract

<p><em>Divorce is the termination of marital bond. </em><em>The divorce rate among the Muslims in Bangladesh increased dramatically since 2000. The common reasons for divorce include wedding out of family traditions, marrying as a teen, unemployment, low education levels, non consenting marriage, cohabitation and premarital birth, bringing children from a prior relationship to the marriage etc. Moreover, interpersonal reasons of divorce include domestic violence, no confidence to each other, frequent conflict, lack of morality, infidelity, perceived illicit relationship problems, weak commitment to marriage and low levels of love as well as trust between spouses. An increasing of risk factors can lead to divorce through two paths i.e. (i) a high level of conflict and unhappiness and (ii) a low level of commitment to each other. </em><em>This r</em><em>esearch continued to show that</em><em> increasing number of divorce </em><em>children with divorced parents score lower on a variety of emotional, behavioral, health, social and academic outcomes. Adults with divorced parents obtain less education, have lower levels of psychological well-being, report more problems with their own marriages and they are less close to their parents and are at greater risk of their own divorce. </em><em>Moreover, </em><em>divorced individuals show signs of depression and anxiety, more health problems, more substance abuse and a greater risk of overall mortality. After a few years, most individuals had adapted well to their new lives, although a significant minority remained seriously troubled.</em><em> However, some remedial process can play vital role in reducing the divorce by </em><em>education classes for the couple/parents and to introducing Mediation before divorce by the family member or court and make effective law to administer pre-divorce and post divorce mechanisms respectively for the well-being of the couples, divorcee, children and to the society at large.</em><em> So, there is an urgent need to reform the present procedure and structure of divorce mechanisms in Bangladesh. This paper endeavors to recognize these reasons for divorce, effects in life and society as well as suggests the way out by taking remedial measures.</em></p>

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