The last four decades have seen a change in the gender roles as the world gunner for gender equality. The feminism revolution since the late 1960s has convinced a majority of the people that civilization is only possible if all humans are treated equality rather than holding on to the primitive beliefs that men are superior to women. These claims have promoted the lives of women but have also increased the rate of divorce. The Beijing Commission at the start of the 21st century saw the rapid rise of divorces in more than double figures compared to earlier years. The world is mostly patriarchal with most men dominating all the important sectors such as the economy and politics thus leading to the agendas of women empowerment to seem like threats to their male ego (Villarreal, 2007). This study tries to demonstrate the changing landscape that has tried to help promote women empowerment by offering them an easy way out from abusive relationships with changes in the family and divorce laws with statistics depicting that women are more likely to file divorce compared to men.
WHO (2014) show that approximately 70% of all divorces are filled by women with violence and other forms of abuse from their husbands. Ghana and Mexico are some of the most exciting countries to research on the issue of divorce due to the dynamic scope of their population and religious backgrounds. Ghana, for instance, is one of the few African countries to have both matriarchal and patriarchal society thus making it attractive to understand the lives of women and men in such a community. Mexico, on the other hand, is one of the countries that is known for its Catholicism and the ‘la Familia’ concept to guide everyone’s actions and relationships. Both countries also experience some of the lowest rates of divorce compared to their neighbors, Nigeria and the U.S. respectively.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Thesis Statement
Therefore, the purpose of this study to compare and contrast the Ghanaian and Mexican divorce laws. The analysis of these two countries’ divorce laws will provide an understanding on the policy changes over the years, the social norms, marriage and divorce, the social problems created by the different policies and the reforms that need to improve the systems.
Paper Arrangement
Since the countries have very range populations, the paper intends to simplify the study based on Accra and Mexico City to enable more in-depth investigations that will be used to illustrate the divorce laws of the respective countries. The achievement of the above goal resulted in the paper being divided into four sections. The first section provides the historical background of divorce laws in the two countries. This chapter will provide an understanding of the progress and social changes about divorce for these nations. It will also represent the hindrances that led to policy changes that are currently in use in both Accra and Mexico City. The next chapter analyzes the current policies before comparing the strength and weaknesses of these divorce laws in both nations. The third section examines the implementation of the present systems and the role of NGOs in the success or failures that the policies have achieved or endured in the implementation processes. Lastly, the fourth chapter provides recommendations based on the weaknesses identified and the gaps in implementations that inhibit successful implementation to improve divorce laws but also mitigate the social problems caused by divorce.
Historical Background
Divorce Law in Accra, Ghana
Ghana is a West-African country formerly known as the Gold Coast due to the high production of Gold even before the British administration arrived in Africa. The reach gold mines made the country to have some of the most advanced centralized forms of government that were under different kingdoms based on their location. Since then, marriage has always been the primary part of the community with dowry paid to the bride’s family by the groom’s family. Following the payment of bride price, a customary ceremony was made that would be similar to the modern day weddings (Andressen, 2007). The rituals performed united the couple to start a family whereby the man was the head and provider, whereas the reproduction was central woman's role. Men could marry as many wives as they would feed therefore polygamy was encouraged. Divorce was never a subject at the time.
Following Ghana’s independence from the British Colonial administration in 1960, the government followed most of the laws that were used by the British under the Marriages Act of 1884. Therefore marriage was only legitimate if it was customary, Mohammedan or Christian marriages (Drewianka, 2008). Customary marriages provided little divorce options since the elders and chiefs’ intention was to enhance family thus prevent divorce but on the occasion that the woman committed adultery. The wife’s family would be forced to return the bride price, and there would be no compensation for the woman because the children would be left with their father. The Mohammedan marriages, on the other hand, uses Islamic guidelines of marriage and its dissolution with the husband having the power to divorce a wife when he feels it suits him or wants to add the number of wives, and he already has four wives which are the maximum number of wives for a man. However, if the woman is not the cause of the divorce, she was compensated with property by her ex-husband. The children if too young would remain with the woman, but if they are male or mature, they would most likely remain with their father. Christian ordained marriages did not approve polygamy or divorce (Drewianka, 2008). The most interesting issue during the young nation’s independence was property ownership with fathers being the head of the family but could only gift their sons with their properties whereas mothers could gift their daughters.
The 1980s changes in the Marriage Act provided a broader description of marriage dissolution, but it did not ease the means divorce. The policies were based on the three types of marriages. It was not until 1995 that the Matrimonial Causes Act was introduced to ease the dissolution of marriages. However, the 1980s provided a great impact in the rural-urban migration of women into Accra with most of the women escaping the violence and abuse of their husbands mainly in the Northern part of the country that is known for is women subjectivity (Grant, 2006). The inadequacy of the 1980s policy changes would result in women having no property or economic independence to escape the abuse of their husbands. The lack of children also causes victimization and stigmatization of these women leading to the divorces and women’s population growth in Accra. The economic pull, the husbands’ negligence and education also enhanced the rate of women seeking freedom (Andressen, 2007)). The Matrimonial Cause Act provided a more natural way for marriage dissolution and is still in use today.
However, multiple studies in Accra demonstrate that stigmatization, increase in women violence, exposure of women to HIV & AIDS and poverty have been some of the worst social problems that divorces have caused in the city (Ghana Statistical Service. 2008 & Grant, 2006). The patriarchal society still stigmatizes single or divorced women as immoral with male adultery not punished (Grant, 2006). The stigmatization and uncurbed violence are some of the most reported cases in Ghanaian studies with ex-husbands and in-laws targeting the women. The low payments and low-status jobs also result in the women preference of prostitution to support their children but since it is illegal, victimization from the men and the police increases the risks of HIV & AIDS.
Mexico City, Mexico
Mexico is founded on its strong roots to Catholic beliefs. Therefore, divorce was never considered until death but in the rare occasion that one of the partners was ailing from sever incurable disease or infidelity could the Law of Civil Matrimony dissolve the marriage. However, it was not until 1870 following the Federal Civil Code allowed the separation of partners who had been married for at least two years. The change in law did not also allow women above the age of 45 years or people who had been married for twenty or more years to legally separate. Federal Law of Family Relation of 1917 changed the dynamics of the divorce in Mexico because legal divorcees were allowed to remarry before the death of their ex-partner (Garcia-Ramos, 2017). Mexico City and the other 31 states follow the civil code on the type of divorce that are filled as either judicial or administrative.
The 1990s saw the drastic changes with the expansion of provision of the divorce with domestic violence, incompatibility, separation and administrative divorce been added. These reforms were aimed towards reducing the violence against women in the patriarchal country, but most of the implementations were made in the 21st century. Since 2008, the single divorce system has been the most dominant since it provides the opportunity for one of the partner to seek dissolution of the marriage based on domestic violence, incompatibility and separation while other traditional causes of divorces such as adultery are still used in these cases (Garcia-Ramos, 2017). The changes of rules have made it easier for women to escape abusive marriages with over 74% of the divorces being filled by women (WHO, 2014). It has also increased the rates of divorce in a country known for its strong family bonds which result in increased poverty for most females with men being the primary focus of the family’s inheritance. Women on the other hand have gained freedom but to the cost of working in low-income jobs.
Comparison of Strength and Weaknesses of the Current Policies
The current policies in both cities/countries have provided simpler ways to fill divorces by allowing any partner to fill a divorce. The unilateral filling of separation makes it possible for any of the partners to seek a divorce without having to acquire mutual consent from their partners an issue that prevented most women from walking away from abusive marriages as their husbands could not consent to their requests (Wolfers, 2006 & Brassiolo, 2016)). The domestic violence and children welfare clauses in the laws also ensure that the women keep the children and are helped to raise them by their ex-husbands. The laws make it possible for the divorce cases to be ruled in favor of the children. Although not adopted the current policies are allowing room for cohabitation marriages due to the increased rates of undocumented marriages whereby women in such relationships can acquire financial support for raising the children from their husbands even after their separation (Stevenson, & Wolfers, 2006). Lastly, domestic violence war has been a critical factor focused on these policies making it possible for women, who are the primary victims with over 70% in the two countries (WHO, 2014). The women have experienced the vice in their marriage lives hence they can use divorce as a way to limit such acts and maintain their families.
The strengths above demonstrate that the policy changes have been beneficial, but their implementation has provided major weaknesses. Although the Ghanaian Matrimony Causes Act provide the unilateral filling of a discontented or a partner who fills that they cannot live with the other in the marriage, the needs of proving are quite challenging. For instance, a person can feel that following a cheating incident by the partner, she/he cannot coexist in the marriage but is she/he have been in the relationship for the six months after learning of the adultery, she/he cannot use such an incident as the reason for divorce. Females in Mexico City, on the other hand, are raised on the belief that they are inferior to the men, therefore domestic violence such as sexual violence is never reported, and women feel that they are to blame for their misfortunes (Villarreal, 2007). The rates of divorce have increased, but in the two nations, there is no proof of improved lives with other factors such education and economic independence play a key role in shaping or enhancing the lives of the women.
Mexico and Ghana have poor marriage and divorce laws with marriage age been quite low compared to other nations. The issue of age shows that younger women in marriages are three times more likely to be abused by their husbands than older mature women. Scholars concur that the young generation depicts that the girls do not possess the education levels that would make them independent therefore their overdependence of their husbands subjects them to the victimization and in most cases, these issues are never reported (Garcia-Ramos, 2017). The laws have also led to a power struggle with men terming the laws as a way to make women the heads of the family which resulted in the backlash from the husbands. Following the divorce, there are no follow-ups to ensure that the man supports the children which subjects the women to poverty. Lastly, both laws have failed to educate, use economic initiative to change the traditional social norms that stigmatize divorced women.
Implementation Issues
As earlier stated, the implementation processes have been inadequate both in Accra and Mexico City. The policy changes are built on patriarchal setting thus requiring the women to prove the reasons they are discontented with their partners. The inability to demonstrate some of these issues due to fear of victimization in Ghana and the drug/cartels in Mexico City makes the divorce laws fail to acquire their goals. Women are the primary victims of abuse in marriage, and they seek divorce more than men do but they do not have the economic or educational background to support themselves and the rulings are never followed to ensure that the compensations are made. Therefore, the World’s Women Fund, the United Nations, and World Health Organization among other international NGOs have started micro-finance projects to help these women financially (Majlesi, 2016). These NGOs help provide financial independence to the single and divorced women, but they have done nothing in changing the general social norms on the role of women.
The NGOs also tend to focus most of their resources on improving the lives of the women in rural areas. Therefore, women in cities such as Accra and Mexico City do not benefit from their financial aids. Religious groups, on the other hand, have enhanced education but with the variations on their beliefs on divorce, they tend to hinder any significant progress in improving the lives of the divorcees.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The background provided a detailed analysis of the progress in the divorce laws in Accra and Mexico City which have provided simpler ways to dissolve dysfunctional marriages. However, the implementation gaps and failures in the NGOs to change the social norms and gender inequality in these patriarchal societies have made poverty dominate most divorced women. These organizations should enforce civil rights and gender lessons through the religious and education systems to ensure that the community can understand the need for change. Strict laws to ensure that husbands support their children after separation will also improve the lives of the people. Therefore, the respective governments and NGOs should simplify the divorce laws further and promote gender equality on all fronts. It is also necessary to enhance lessons on the family as past studies demonstrate that children in single-parent families are likely to be worse-off in academics and career compared to children in stable families.
References
Andressen, A.L. (2007). Women's Property Rights and Culture Relativism in Africa . M.A. Thesis.
Brassiolo, P. (2016). Domestic violence and divorce law: When divorce threats become credible. Journal of Labor Economics, 2(34), 443–477.
Drewianka, S. (2008). Divorce law and family formation. Journal of Population Economics , 21(2), 485–503.
Garcia-Ramos, A. (2017). Woman’s relative income and intimate partner violence in Mexico: A non-monotonic relationship . Working Paper, University of Birmingham.
Ghana Statistical Service. (2008). The Ghana living standards survey report of the fifth round . Accra, Ghana.
Grant, R. (2006). Out of place? Global citizens in local spaces: A study of the informal settlements in the Korle Lagoon environs in Accra, Ghana. Urban Forum , 17(1): 1-23.
Majlesi, K. (2016). Labor market opportunities and women’s decision making power within households. Journal of Development Economics, 119, 34–47.
Stevenson, B., and Wolfers, J. (2006). Bargaining in the shadow of the law: Divorce laws and family distress. The Quarterly Journal of Economics , 121(1), 267–288.
Villarreal, A., (2007). Women’s Employment Status, Coercive Control and Intimate Partner Violence in Mexico. Journal of Marriage and Family , 69:418-434.
WHO (2014). Global status report on violence prevention 2014 . Geneva: World Health Organization.
Wolfers, J. (2006). Did unilateral divorce laws raise divorce rates? A reconciliation and new results. The American Economic Review , 96(5), 1802–1820.
