Women Empowerment - A Cause for Increasing Divorce Rate in India

The Indian society has to accept that we have double standards in everything we do. There is no doubt that the modern Indian women have been truly empowered. However Please ask yourself following questions:

1. Does just education and freedom mean empowerment? My point is one is truly empowered if education and knowledge is exhibited and used in a proper way. As an individual (be it a male or female) you get truly empowered when you also realize that for everything you get from your parents or society you also have a role to play, you cannot run away from responsibilities if some rights have been granted. E.g., if you have all the rights to be independent and come home late then you also have the responsibilities of at least informing your family and not indulging in an act which causes embarrassment to you or your loved ones. No I am not talking about dress code.

2. Are we truly heading toward an unbiased society (from gender's perspective)? We indians still believe that it is the duty of the man to earn the living for the family and it is the duty of the women to do basic chores like cooking, washing etc. at home. Why don't we encourage girls to study while keeping in mind that they have to utilize the education later on by also focusing on a career. Boys still get a scolding like "you won't do anything good if you don't study hard and later on find a job as soon as possible", a lot of parent force their daughters to study further just for the sake of getting degrees, so that they can boast of the same at the time of finding a suitable match for the daughter. The reverse holds true when it comes to boys parent just make them focus on studies and not learning some home chores.

3. Please go to any matrimonial site or read an matrimony weekly on a local newspaper, in the grooms wanted columns whenever you see girl working as so and so and earning abc per anum they also mentions boys package should be abc+ or even in most cases abc*2 per annum. Why cann't it be boy should be earning at the same level and must know some cooking etc?

4. Quality level of education imparted has decreased substantially. You can easily spot people holding master's degree looking for a job from last 5 years or settling for a job not belonging to their forte. While on the other hand there are people who just managed to get their degree by correspondence and after 3-4 years they are at a good level compared to the earlier league.

I am not trying to say that women empowerment has resulted in increase in divorces. I am just trying to point out that with empowerment one has to accept the set of responsibilities that arise as a consequence. Hope you understand

Empowerment means giving power or authority to take independent decisions in order to authorise something. Which is not seen in the case of "Women Empowerment".

There are two faces of coin in women empowerment i.e. professional & personal life.

Talking about the professional life, in our society "Women development" has been treated as " Women empowerment" over the decades. Giving the opportunities to the women of the society to do what a man does, it doesn't empower them. It could be a step towards the development of women in our society. The question arises here - "Why there is a sudden need of women empowerment". There should be justice to the implementation of it. There are many sectors where women in the 21st century aren't treated equally. Before thinking of empowerment, equality has to be taken care in all perspectives. The ratio of female to male is always less in all the fields. This shows we haven't reached the level of equality. The reason of inequality isn't the incapability of a woman always. It's the partial preference chosen by the authority. To attain equality they should define certain ratio which encourages the female candidates to show & enhance their skills. Being judgemental towards the capability of a woman in any field is a hindrance to their development. But many workplaces do not encourage the participation of women in the field of work. Talking about job opportunities few advertisements are meant for only "male candidates". This gender-biased shouldn't be encouraged. Governments have been doing good about it. Few more steps could get us close to empowerment.

Talking about the personal life of a woman. The empowerment not only needed in professional life but also plays a vital role in personal life. A woman is always considered to be "a dependent" on a male whether it's a father or husband for taking their decisions. Also, considered to sacrifice if needed and to do house chores in rural & sometimes in urban areas too. The question arises here -"Is this the reason for male dominating society". A woman should be taken as a perfect example of someone who can play both the roles whether it's personal or professional. To change this mindset every woman on their has to take initiative to let the people around them know that - "what they do at home is a choice not because they have to or not capable of doing other things". Women empowerment could be one of the reasons for divorce not letting your better half grow. But its definitely not the only reason for increasing divorce rate in India.

I think know one is thinking about what is going to happen in future with the current trends.

1. Increase in Divorces. Don't go by %age as the population is also increasing rapidly.

2. Increase in Inter-Caste / Love marriages. May be good but most of the time fails or leads to elementary family & Ignored aged Parents without support.

3. * Increase in Unmarried individuals(Singles both men & women).

There are thousands of unmarried individuals even at the age of 40+

Reasons:

A). Unable to find suitable match (Mostly because women are more educated or economically sophisticated than men or expectations not matching of both. ).

B). Because of such incomplete laws New marriage (Amendment) bill, IPC 498a. Why should anyone take risk. I See "Live Single, Be happy" status quotes of many men. When marriage itself is sharing everything with each other, why should there be a law to specify. If specified, why it does not define something like.

1. Divorce can be possible only after 6 months of marriage(Exceptional on special cases).

2. Divorce is not possible if married for more than 10 years(I don't know what reasons can lead to divorce after living together for 10 years). They can live separate without divorce as well right.

3. Divorced within 3 years will not get the benefit of the new "Marriages Law (Amendment) Bill". However if Children are born, both take the equal responsibility of their children's. How stupid is the law which states only after 3 years of staying separate they can apply for divorce. So the law is to separate them not to keep them together.

Obvious, if the person is separating from her spouse, she has decided to live independently on her own or she can re-marry. Why should she ask for compensation or share in ex-husbands property.

4. If dowry is of a concern : Punish both Husband and wife and both their family. Because at the time of marriage they both had agreed on dowry (for whatever the reason could be), and when conflict starts only Husband and His Family are treated as accused/culprits.

One of the famous female lawyer stated on a TV news Channel that she has helped a woman to get divorce 5 times and 6th time she rejected to take-up the case. What a pity.

I would say let empowerment happen, but not in such a manner wherein Marriage itself will become History and obviously there will not be scope for Divorce :).

Best solution. Remove all laws and go in for pre-marriage agreement between boy and the girl. Precaution is better than prevention :).

Greetings All !!

Yes, it is right that women's empowerment is working as a catalyst to increase the rate of divorce in India but if we go in-depth about the reason we may understand the situation.

In the early days, women were not literate and they do not allow to go outside the house. They did not have options other than their family maintenance.

So, they had to compromise whatever was the situation. This compromise was mostly from one side i.e. women's side.

Nowadays, women are becoming literate and working. Also, they are successful in each and every field as much as men. Now, they have the option to live their life in their own way. As women is empowered, they want equality in society whether it is workplace or home. Women expect compromise from men and their family side.

Sometimes in-laws are also not supportive as women expect their family with them as she grown up. At the other side, male inherit thoughts can not be changed in a day- like kitchen help and housework are not men's jobs, men's egos may be hurt by talking their wives with male colleagues or by their wife's success. These thoughts are not in the control of men that should be understood by women. How a hundred of years thought can change in some decade of years. The evolution of thoughts will take time.

Everyone wants freedom and to live happily and peacefully. So, she starts to compare worsened married life with what can she make life with her ability. Now she has one more option of self-dependent. She can earn herself, she can take care of herself and she can live as she wants. So she has to choose divorce. She does not compromise as her mother or grandmother did.

In this situation, both persons should understand the situation, try to mould themselves according to the partner's wish if it is ethically right. They should respect each other's opinions. After keeping their personal ego aside, they should think about how can they change for each other. They should understand how can a person who has been living in a different environment for 25-30 years, change suddenly for you. If compromise will not happen from both sides, divorce will happen.

Usually, women respect those men who treat them equally. Women also need to understand that their short-time efforts, love and respect can save their longtime married life. If both will treat each other equally with respect, only married life can run. Divorce happens due to clashes of two different thoughts i.e. women's empowerment and inherit thoughts of men.

Women empowerment is not a cause for increasing divorce rate in India. There was a time when women were told that marriage is sacred and their ultimate goal was to serve her husband, in-laws and her children. Women were not allowed to dream anything beyond this. They dedicated their entire lives to look after their family. Women had no freedom to complain even if they were subjected to domestic violence or harassment or any other form of violence from in-laws. There was a sense of apprehension among women that being vocal about these things would tarnish their image and they would lose respect for themselves from the society. Also most of the women believed that their husbands were like gods. There is no way her husband could ever do wrong. Many men had clandestine affairs and were involved in infidelity. Many men remarried while still being married to the current wife. A lot of women adjusted their lives according to the needs of their husbands. They respected their husband's wishes even though they didn't like them. Due to lack of education, many women didn't know their rights. Even if women were educated they didn't have the financial independence to look after their children after divorcing their spouses. As a result, many women had to compromise in their marriage.

This has slowly changed over the course of years with women being educated and gaining financial independence. Women can approach the court in case of domestic violence, harassment or any pressure from in-laws regarding dowry for the justice to be served.

But women empowerment is not a cause for increasing divorce rate in India. It is not fair to blame a woman for being educated and living life on her terms.

Divorce rates are high in urban areas. Divorces could happen among the spouses due to 'n' number of reasons-.

- Infidelity (could be a wife or a husband).
-Not a happy marriage.
-Domestic violence.
-Pressure from in-laws regarding dowry.
-Divorce with mutual consent.
-etc, etc, etc.

Even in the urban areas, many believe that a woman's place is confined within the four walls. Many women are asked to give up their professions after marriage to look after their in-laws, husband and children.

A marriage can only sustain if both wife and husband respect each other's wishes and believe that there must be a sense of equality rather than dominating each other.

Thank you!

To be very frank women empowerment is not a reason for escalating divorce rate in India.

Supported by lines-.

Women Empowerment basically means educating women, making them aware of their rights, raising voice against injustice. Take two different situations.

In 18th, 19th-century women didn't know much about their rights and actions. They got suppressed by men. They were asked to sit back at home and nurture the child. Men were the source of income, women were not allowed to leave home. In the past people had the notion that if the female of the house goes for work then who will take care of the child, who will look after the home. Parents had a selective perception of women being a liability, they used to have an abortion if the get to know that a toddler is a female. In past, it was humanity which died along with the toddler.

Now the time has arrived where Women are getting more and more support from society and government. India ones used to be a patriarchal society but now our India is changing, changing towards betterment. There are many reforms which give a threshold to be more decisive and powerful and come to dominate the world in the times to come:-.

1. Reserving 1/3 of seats in parliament for women under article 40.

2. Form Rashtriya Mahila Kosh to make credit available to women.

3. Article14 - Which gives right to women to stand equal before law.

4. Stopping Polygamy and Bigamy.

5. Mahila Samiridhi Yojna - For women empowerment.

Conclusion.

Divorce happen because of lack of understanding between the couple. Sometimes men can get egoistic because women are earning more than them. Instead of making women empowerment a scapegoat, we should stop harassing each other, live life with serenity, accept the change in the society, make more love, don't break trust, do more of what makes you happy without compromising others happiness, give freedom to your partner, be mature enough to understand what your partner wants from life.

Empowerment is nowhere responsible for divorce in India instead our unreadiness to accept the change is.

Our India stands very low in Gender Parity Index (. 48). If this is improved India Could Boost Its GDP by $. 7trillion by 2025. More than 68 million women can be brought to work.

Women's Empowerment refers to uplifting women in every aspect such as economic, political, and social.
Women empowerment is not a cause for increasing divorce rate in India. There was a time when women were told that marriage is sacred and their ultimate goal was to serve her husband, in-laws and her children.
Women were not allowed to dream anything beyond this. They dedicated their entire lives to look after their family. Women had no freedom to complain even if they were subjected to domestic violence or harassment or any other form of violence from in-laws.
They respected their husband's wishes even though they didn't like them. Due to lack of education, many women didn't know their rights. Even if women were educated they didn't have the financial independence to look after their children after divorcing their spouses. As a result, many women had to compromise in their marriage
This has slowly changed over the course of years with women being educated and gaining financial independence. Women can approach the court in case of domestic violence, harassment or any pressure from in-laws regarding dowry for the justice to be served.
Divorce rates are high in urban areas. Divorces could happen among the spouses due to 'n' number of reasons
- Infidelity (could be a wife or a husband).
-Not a happy marriage.
-Domestic violence.
-Pressure from in-laws regarding dowry.
-Divorce with mutual consent
- To make their own choices and decisions.

- Have equal rights to participate in social, religious and public activities.

- Have equal social status in the society.

- Have equal rights for social and economic justice.

- Determine financial and economic choices.

- Get equal opportunity for education.

- Get equal employment opportunity without any gender bias.

- Get safe and comfortable working environment
Women Empowering give her equal status with respect to me
Thank you .....

Is Women Empowerment Reason for High Divorce Rate?

Divorce is a very sensitive term, so in my opinion it shouldn't be generalized. Every individual case is different. But for sure it is not rising because of women empowerment rather, it's our love for materialistic things that has changed our priorities in life.

A few decades back things were being used and people were being loved, but now the situation has changed. With huge pay packages it seems too easy for people to change anything and better half that doesn't suit their preference.

We do not want to build an understanding. Most of us swear by the words "My Way or Highway". I am sorry to say, but in earlier days where the parents of both groom and bride were playing a sincere role in developing a balance and nurturing the relationship, are now not in the same role. Instead now in some case they act as fuel to fire. Empathy has been replaced ego.

And still if it is women empowerment has lead to rise in the divorce rate. We must understand it in a deeper context. Over the decades, our family structures and society have changed. Gone are those days when a family used to have a minimum of 4 and more children. These days family structures are changing to the extent that they have not only become nuclear but also a maximum number of children per couple have reduced to 2.

In earlier days if a daughter used to complain her parents about the harassment she faces in her matrimonial house, parents having limited support and in fear of society were not able to help their daughter.

A's had to limited financial resources and other children to marry as well. But now the girls get full support from their parents and in addition to this being financially independent do not wish to continue to undergo the physical, mental and financial trauma at the matrimonial house.

The argument that women empowerment is the reason for the increasing divorce rates is not entirely logically convincing because it ignores certain crucial assumptions.

Firstly, it assumes that the divorce rates were less when women were not a part of the professional/corporate world and dependent totally on their husbands in all respects. Lets discuss here first what does divorce mean? Does it necessarily mean the husband and wife separated under legal conditions? Or does it simply refers to a failed marriage? Domestic violence, ego clashes, sexual harassment-are these not the reasons of failed marriages? If yes, then these were prevalent even before the women were "empowered".

If, today, a woman is strong and independent enough to come out and demand for the separation from her husband just because she does not need her life to be miserable, we blame it on the empowerment. It is true that women have become stronger, educated and less vulnerable but the motive was never to break apart their families.

Some might argue that women empowerment leads to ego clashes between the spouses but it is equally reasonable to argue that men can't bring themselves to believe that today their wives are shoulder to shoulder with them and some in fact are even ahead of them. So, it is not the empowerment which has created the ego clashes, it is the inability of some (not all) men to adapt to the changes which have been brought about due to empowerment.

Secondly, the argument never addresses the fact that women empowerment has decreased the rate of domestic violence which ideally should be the reason for divorce. Therefore, the motives of women empowerment were never wrong but the consequences might differ as per how people expect an educated woman to be.

I believe that empowering a women we are making our country's backbone strong and leading towards the development. Talking about divorce its a taboo but there are several causes for it but solely blaming women empowerment its not justified. I would like to express in few points.

First point :women empowerment. PARTIALLY YES! Because they have freedom to take decision if they are not comfortable in any matter. Earlier they have no choice except to depend on male even after being harassed, abused, threaten or being thrashed for dowry. So they can do nothing, just bear the exploitation and remain silent. But now they have freedom to raise out matter and take decision as per them.

Second point :Forced marriage. Some families in order to expand their business empire or just for converting.

Their friendship into relation they force their children to get engaged without seeking their views.

Third point :Misuse of ipc 498 A, can contribute to divorce by falsely accusing or blaming male.

Forth point : Family interference. Sometimes possessive parent's decision for their children mislead them and they don't get a chance to of second thought about their decision.

At the same time we can't ignore the affect of modernisation which is being served us by the media. Some get inspire from them and do as they watch.

Lastly, conflict in between families : In some cases, not capable of settling down the matter in between saas and bahu.

So clearly from every direction their in no point in saying that women empowerment is accountable for increasing divorce rate.