Chronicle Editor
The number of couples that filed for divorce at the Bulawayo High Court shot to 820 between January and December 2018, marking a 60 percent increase compared to 512 in the previous year.
Lawyers and religious leaders attributed the increase in the number of divorce cases to economic challenges and the breakdown of the extended family system that used to play an integral part in preserving marriages.
Divorce applications accounted for the bulk of the 1 677 summons filed at the Bulawayo High Court in 2018.
Marriage experts said either men or women are forced to leave their spouses behind in search of greener pastures in the Diaspora resulting in couples separating for a long time.
They said as a result of this separation for long periods, the spouses are tempted to engage in extra-marital affairs thereby threatening their marriages.
The experts said lack of financial stability was also contributing to collapse of marriages.
Most women, they said, are now financially independent and they can afford to look after themselves and the family unlike in the past when they solely relied on their husbands.
The marriage experts said traditionally women used to stay at home while their husbands worked to fend for the families.
Women are slowly turning the tables as some of them are now family breadwinners and men now rely on them.
They said the new challenge now is that men are failing to accept that their wives can look after them hence such exchange in the family roles has sparked disputes.
The rate at which marriages are collapsing cannot be allowed to continue.
What is disturbing is that the newly wedded and fairly young couples account for the bulk of the divorces.
There is therefore an urgent need to preserve the institution of marriage which is the foundation of the family.
Children need to be brought up in a stable marriage so that they enjoy love and parental guidance from both father and mother.
Children from broken marriages have been denied this parental love and guidance and as such many of them have become social misfits.
It is for the sake of the future of our children that communities should urgently address the issue of divorces.
The collapse of the extended family as a result of urbanisation has been singled out as one of the reasons why we are witnessing an upsurge in divorce cases especially of young couples.
Petty disputes which could be resolved by engaging elders are leading to collapse of marriages.
The challenge to communities is to take over the roles of aunties and uncles left in the rural areas and mediate when couples are involved in petty disputes in order to save marriages.
The elders and the Church need to address the issue of infidelity which is as a result of the spouses’ disrespect of their marriage vows they made when they were joined in holy matrimony.
In the past husbands used to be away for years and their wives remained faithful because they respected their vows and the institution of marriage.
We want to once again implore communities to address the issue of increased divorce cases which is threatening the future of our children.
Online Reporter