Abstract:

Bangladesh is the country in the world where family ties and happiness are very important. A
culture of maintaining conjugal life has been going on in our country for a long time. Our culture
and tradition focus on strengthening family ties. The western countries have gone to that phase
where divorce is natural. But in a restricted society like Bangladesh, divorce is still treated as a
taboo. Although divorce is not a desirable act in any society of the world however with the recent
surge in divorce rates, Bangladesh is going to feel the necessity of policy interventions regarding
single parent family or divorced male and female very shortly. In order to understand the
marriage dynamics in lens of divorce this paper examines the concept of divorce, review the
divorce pattern and the existing divorce law. This paper analyzes socio-psychological approach
to explain how and why divorce rates are proliferating. It also discusses the causes and
consequences of divorce which will help the policy planners to revise the divorce act and to
design interventions for reducing the stigmatization and discrimination towards people seeking
marital termination and will help the children of divorced family.
Introduction
Divorce, a socio-legal problem is the ultimate termination of a marital union, ending the legal
responsibilities and duties of marriage and disintegrating matrimonial bonds between the parties.
The pattern and procedure of divorce may vary society to society but in every society there is a
legal process of divorce. There are two broad types of divorce: fault based divorce and no fault
divorce. In fault based divorce one partner is accused of disloyalty and inhuman treatment as a
result divorce is filed and in no fault divorce couples on the basis of mutual understanding
dissolve the marriage.1 Annulment and desertion are two other forms of divorce, when a married
partner is mentally immature to understand the commitment of marriage then the marriage is
likely to be annulled and when one couple leave another one without any notice referred as
desertion. In Bangladesh, most of the divorces are result of fault based causes. As society is
going through numerous social change and transition divorce is a rising phenomenon. Though in
developed countries, divorce is a means of freedom from an unpleasant marriage but in a country
like Bangladesh where divorce word itself treated as negative term and considered as taboo,
there still remain a burning question whether divorce leads to freedom from a disconsolate
relation or a means of social isolation. Divorce was once thought to be an ailment of capitalist
societies in the Western world. But recently we came across an eye-opening statistics of talak or
divorce rate reported by a leading Bangla daily. Though the rest of the country lags far behind,
urban centres like Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet seem to have defeated some of the western
countries in number of divorces. As many as 39 divorces are taking place in the capital every day
or one divorce in every 37 minutes in the five months from June. It is indeed beyond our
imagination.

1
Strong, B., & Cohen, F. T. (2013). The marriage and family experience: Intimate relationships in a changing society.
Boston: Cengage Learning.
There has been a growth of divorce rate among couples having higher educational background in
Bangladesh in the past seven years, according to an official data. The divorce rate is highest in
the south western coastal Barisal region, while it is lowest in the north-eastern and north-western
Sylhet and Chittagong, considered as conservative parts in the country, Bangladesh's Bureau of
Statistics (BBS) figures suggested.
However, very few article focused on conceptualizing the changes in marriage dynamics of
Bangladesh. Thus, this paper aims to conceptualize the concept of divorce, review the divorce
pattern, the existing divorce law, dissolution of divorce through court and the divorce rate in
Bangladesh and also find out the possible causes and consequences of rise of divorce in
Bangladesh.
Objectives:
The research on ‘Dissolution of marriage through court: Problems and Prospects' is to find out:

 The effectiveness of the existing laws to decrease the divorce rate.

 Causes of increasing the rate of divorce.
 The method of reducing the rate of divorce.
 Adverse consequences of divorce on the society.

Methodology:
The methodology would be followed for this research of qualitative in nature where the answers
of ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ would be seeking. For this research paper, we will follow the
following methods:

 studying many journals respecting on divorce’

 studying personal laws of Muslim, Hindu, Christian;
 analysing of statutory laws relating to divorce;
 analysing case laws relating to divorce;
 visiting regional Court for collecting data relating to divorce;
 observing the real effects of divorce in our society.

The Sociological Perspectives of Divorce:

‘Structural functionalism’ claims that every society has some specific functions, these functions
are integrated part of society. A state of balance ensures the functions of society. Marriage and
divorce is the part of society's function. In this perspective, structural functionalism related with
divorce.2The perspective of ‘Conflict Theory’ assumes society in such a way where one group is

2
Strong, B., & Cohen, F. T. (2013). The marriage and family experience: Intimate relationships in a changing
society. Boston: Cengage Learning.
always struggling over power or resources.3The focus point of this perspective is inequality.
Marriages take form of termination when there is inequality. This perspective describes divorce
as competition for power and resource where disagreements and nonconformities increase the
likelihood of divorce. ‘Is feminism responsible for the rise in divorce’? This question requires
insight explanation. Previously women used to consider their abusive marriages as their awful
fate, they were subordinate to their male counterpart, marital ill treatment was legal but with the
suffrage movement the consciousness of women’s own right upsurge. ‘Liberal feminism’
assumes that females’ household responsibilities place them at series of stumbling block and
support policies that uplift males to accept a minimal share of domestic responsibilities. 4 While
the ‘Cultural feminism’ assumes that it is not an issue that females care for children rather it is
considered as deemphasized thing.5On the other hand believer of ‘Radical feminism’ presumes
that it is impossible to realize whether females’ attachment to the rearing of the children would
differ from males in another society and emphasize on the ways in which wedding and work
policies sustain dominance of men. According to the believers of feminist perspective all these
household issues and males’ bulk of the expectation towards females that they are bound to do
bulk of the domestic work and the bulk of the childcare somehow lead to the rise of divorce
phenomenon. In the context, of gender inequality feminist movement applied to conflict theory,
which concentrate on conflicts and disagreement that emerge from gender based inequalities.
Conflict and feminist perspective focus on social change to minimize inequality. This
perspective shows how termination of marriages occur when there prevails gender based in
equality at the family and societal level. It showed that as an escape from conflicts and
disagreements people seek divorce. ‘Social exchange theory’ assumes that individuals maintains,
develop or terminate marital relationships in terms of the harmony between the rewards gained
from the marriage and the costs that resulted from it. Thus if the cost of maintaining a marital
relationship is more than the benefits that one can expect from the marriage people dissolute the
wedding.
The Psychological Perspectives of Divorce:
‘Why people get divorced’? Explanation of this statement consists of a number of psychological
perspectives. The ‘divorce-stress adjustment’ approach is one of the perspective that consider
divorce as a strategy that starts with feelings of alienation from one’s partner keep on with as one
or both spouses are determine to separate and then accompanied by adjustment after
divorce.6This approach shares interchangeable ideology to the ‘stress-distress’ approach by
forecasting of divorce as a pressure to which people adjust with changing levels of flexibility
rely on the socioeconomic control at their discard. Psychologists of ‘selection perspective’ belief
3
Thompson, L. & Spanier, B. G. (1983). The end of marriage and acceptance of marital termination. Journal of
Marriage and the Family, 45 (1), 103-113.
4
Shaffer, M. (1988). Divorce mediation: A feminist perspective, The University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review,
46 (1), 121-162.
5
Lund, L. K. (1990). A feminist perspective on divorce therapy for women. Journal of Divorce, 13 (3), 57-68, 19.
6
Amato, R. P., & Booth, A. The consequences of divorce for attitudes toward divorce and gender roles. Journal of
family issues, 12 (3), 306-322.
that there are two groups of individual one who cohabit before marriage and another one those
are non-cohabiters are different in various ways, even cohabitation before marriage increase
probability of poor marital status and divorce for the prior group. Besides poor educational
status, low socio economic status, growing up in broken family, holding non traditional belief for
commitment and wedding, no religious affiliation, all of these relevant characteristics increases
the likelihood of cohabitation and marital dysfunction. 7 A study found that, cohabitation before
marriage was associated with more marital dysfunction, lack of interaction, prominent likelihood
of divorce. In opposition to the selection perspective, the believers of ‘experience of
cohabitation’ perspective infer that cohabitation itself causes the marital dysfunction and
personalities of individuals. In another study, it was demonstrated that cohabitation alters people
and their relationships in a way that diminish the quality of marriage, stability and commitment.
Similar study exhibited that individuals who cohabit prior to marriage, were more susceptible to
divorce than the non-cohabiters.8 Additionally married people who possessed more accepting
attitudes toward divorce declines in marital happiness, stability and increases in marital conflict
and disagreements. Moreover, individuals who do not support the norm of lifelong marriage and
commitment are more likely to deal with termination of marriage.9
Therefore, this paper doesn’t focus on single theoretical framework for analysing rise of divorce
in Bangladesh rather it combines both the sociological and psychological approaches to analyse
the underpinning causes that trigger the termination of marriage in Bangladesh.

The Legal Process of Obtaining a divorce in Bangladesh:

Marriages and Divorces (Registration) Act, 1974 oversees the procedure of divorce in
Bangladesh. Divorce is the only valid way to end a relationship other than an act of God. The
divorce process is very straightforward in Bangladesh. The simple three steps are:
i) Giving written notice,
ii) Meeting the Arbitration Tribunal,
iii) After the expiry of 90 days, taking the Registrar’s registration certificate.
Here in the following paragraphs we will explain the procedure of divorces amongst all
communities and faith in Bangladesh.
In general, There provides for two forms of divorce that include:
i) Extra-judicial divorce and
ii) Judicial divorce.

7
Osborne, C., McLanahan, S., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2005).Young children’s behavioural problems in married and
cohabiting families. Center for Research on Child Well-Being Working Paper, 33 (1), 21-46.
8
Seltzer, J. A. (2000). Families formed outside of marriage. Journal of marriage and family, 62 (4), 1247-1268.
9
Amato, R. P., & S. J. Rogers, J. S. (1999). Do attitudes toward divorce affect marital quality?. Journal of family
issues, 20 (1), 69-86.
Generally, in wide sense, All over Bangladesh are followed by extra-judicial divorce. Less then
1% of divorce are held in court in Cumilla.10
There are different divorce laws for different religion such as: Dissolution of Muslim marriage
Act 1939 and 1961, the divorce Act 1869 for Christians. But, there is no codified law for Hindu
in Bangladesh.
Distribution of divorce law by religion in Bangladesh :

Muslim Hindu Christian and

Buddhist
Divorce 1. No-fault divorce is 1. No provision for 1. Husband and wife
Pattern available for husband. divorce. can
2. No-fault divorce is 2. Wife can seek court 2. Seek divorce on
available for wife only if decree for separate limited
agreed by husband in residence and grounds. Grounds are
marriage contract otherwise maintenance. more restrictive for
divorce available through women.
mutual consent.
3. Women has a right to ask
for divorce.
4. In another way, involves
an element of mutual
consent where
the offer may be either from
of wife or husband. If no
divorce out of court, then
women can seek divorce
through court.
Maintenanc 1. Husband should provide 1. Husband should1. Husband should
e during alimony. provide alimony. provide alimony.
marriage 2. Maintenance is tied to 2. Maintenance is tied to
2. Maintenance is tied
chastity and wife being chastity and wife being to
dutiful. dutiful. chastity and wife
being
dutiful.
Post-divorce 1. Divorced women cannot 1. There is no divorce. 1.Wives can claim
and post- get maintenance except Wives can seek a court maintenance, post-
separation during a 90-day waiting decree for separate divorce.
maintenance period from notice of residence and
divorce or during maintenance on limited

10
District Legal Aid Office, Comilla.
 pregnancy, if pregnant at the grounds.
time of divorce. 2. The rules on chastity
and being dutiful apply.
Marital 1.Separate property only. 1.Separate property only. 1. Separate property
Property Marital property not Marital property not only.
recognized, regardless of recognized, regardless of 2. Marital property
contributions. contributions. not
recognized, regardless
of
contributions.
Institution 1.Local arbitration councils, 1.Family courts and 1.Family courts and
involved family courts, and appeals appeals courts. Appeals courts.
courts.
Source: Human Rights Watch, 2018
Dissolution of Marriage under Muslim Law:
Under the Muslim Law, a marriage is terminated either by death of the husband or wife, or by
divorce.
1. Extra-Judicial Divorce: Extra judicial divorce is when it is depend upon the will of
husband or wife or when it is by mutual agreement. Most of the times rights to give
divorce are given to husband only, wife are at very subordinate position to divorce.
Extra- judicial divorce is divided into several parts:
 By Husband- All that is necessary for divorce is that the husband should pronounce
divorce in his mouth. How he does it, when he does it, or in what he does it is not very
essential and it can happen even in absence of wife. It need not be made in the presence
of the witnesses.
 By Wife- Under traditional Sharia Law, a Muslim woman cannot dissolve her marriage
without the consent of the husband. The Muslim husband is free to delivery his power of
pronouncing divorce to his wife.
 By Mutual Agreement- Even when there is no fault a Muslim women has a right to ask
for divorce if she does not desire to live with her husband and the husband has no power
to cancel it.
In another way, which involves an element of mutual consent where the offer may be either from
the side of wife or from the side of husband. When an offer is accepted, it becomes an
irrevocable divorce.11

11
Hossain, B. M., Gafur, T., Islam, M. M., & Hasan, S. M. (2015). Trends, patterns and determinants of marriage in
Bangladesh, population monograph. Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
 2. Judicial Divorce: When women has no chance for divorce through extra-judicial
Muslim law, then she can ask for divorce through court under Muslim Family Laws
Ordinance, 1961 The reformation of Muslim family law in 1961 has entitled women
to divorce her husband. A woman married under Muslim law shall be entitled to
obtain a decree for divorce for the dissolution of her marriage on any one or more of
the following grounds:
 Whereabouts of the husband have not been known for a period of four years
 Husband has neglected or has failed to provide for her maintenance for a period of
two years
 Husband has been sentenced to imprisonment for a period of seven years or upwards
 Husband was impotent at the time of the marriage and continues to be so
 Husband has been insane for a period of two years or is suffering from virulent
venereal disease.
 Husband treats her with cruelty i.e. habitually assaults her or makes her life
miserable, leads an infamous life, or attempts to force her to lead an immoral life.
There is no such criteria necessary for a man to divorce his wife.
Dissolution of Marriage under Hindu Law:
Whenever the question of divorce or dissolution of a Hindu marriage arises, it becomes a very
thorny question. Dayabhaga law is followed by most of the Hindu communities in Bangladesh.
According to this law, Hindus are not allowed to divorce their spouse as they consider marriage
as a sacred relationship, a divine covenant and sacrament. 12In Bangladesh, technically there is
still no law that grants a Hindu person a right to affect a divorce against their partner. But, a
Hindu married woman may seek entitlement to separate residence and maintenance pursuant to
the grounds laid down in the 1946 Act. On the other hand, in India, according to Hindu Marriage
Act, 1955, both the husband as well as the wife has the right to file case and seek termination of
the marriage.13
Dissolution of Marriage under Christian Law:
Among Christians also marriage is a holy order. The Divorce Act 1869 secures divorce for
persons practicing the Christian religion. According to this Act,
i) Husband may present a petition to the District Court or to the High Court Division, that
his marriage may be terminated on the ground that his wife has been found guilty of
adultery.
ii) Wife may present a petition to the District court or to the High Court Division, praying
that her marriage may be terminated on the ground that, her husband has interchanged his
12
Turan, A. (2015, February 24). Hindu women's divorce rights. The Daily Star. Retrieved from
https://www.thedailystar.net/law-our-rights/hindu-womens-divorce-rights-3558
13
Turan, A. (2015, January 11). Overview of Divorce Law in Bangladesh. The Bangla news24. Retrieved from
https://www.banglanews24.com/open forum/article/34317/Overview-of-Divorce-Law-in-Bangladesh
 believe of Christianity for the sake of some other religion, and gone through a form of
marriage with another woman or has been guilty of adultery, or of rape, cruelty, or
desertion with couple without reasonable excuse, for two or some more years.
In case the Court is satisfied on the evidence, a decree for a dissolution of marriage made by
High Court Division and the divorce becomes operational. However, the decree doesn’t become
absolute within the period of six months.14
Dissolution of Marriage through Court
Divorce in Bangladesh is considered as a stigma for women. Specially, after the birth of the
issue in the family, if husband pronounces divorce, it becomes difficult for the wife to survive in
the society, both financially and socially. As a result, the criminal laws are used as a shield to
create pressure to their husband so that he can continue with his conjugal life. It is not difficult to
find many cases in courts in Bangladesh where a wife is filing cases against the husband and his
family members for torture and dowry demand even after pronouncement of divorce by husband.
Subsequently, when husband and his family shift their stand from divorce, wife seeks to
withdraw the case and continue the conjugal life.
As a result of this duel stand of divorce law (Soft) and Criminal law (Hard law), the consequence
becomes terrific. On one hand, thousands of divorces get pronounced every day and on the other
hand, millions of criminal cases stay pending before Chief Judicial Magistrate Courts, Nari O
Sishu Nirjatan Domon Tribunals and Family Courts in Bangladesh.
Whether we will allow this duel standard and coincide with the continuation of this current
practice or not is an important question to deal with, in this backdrop. The consequences of
continuation of this current practice are multi-faceted. Firstly, it endangers the matrimonial
relationship between husband and wife, as the wife is always at risk of unilateral pronouncement
of divorce by husband. Secondly, this pushes women in Bangladesh within the court boundary
with claims founded on criminal charges. Thirdly, there are thousands of criminal cases pending
before Magistrate Court and Nari O Sishu Nirjatan Domon Tribunal and the true cause of action
arises out of the pronouncement of divorce. Finally, this situation also engages a large number of
women in Bangladesh for criminal charges, who are mostly family members of husband like
mother, sister, sister in law.
So what should be our starting point to resolve this problem? A solution may come through
'Judicial Divorce' system, which is still within our legal system. Section 5 of the Family Courts
Ordinance 1985 says that divorce is also one of the jurisdictions of the Family court. Under that
provision, sometimes, wife files divorce case before family court under Dissolution of Muslim
Marriages Act, 1939, when husband did not delegate divorce power to wife or there is no mutual
divorce between them.

14
MOL (Ministry of Law). (2010). The Divorce Act, 1869, Dhaka: Ministry of Law, Government of People's Republic
of Bangladesh.
Sometimes, husband files divorce case before family court in order to avoid other legal
difficulties. But, in rest of the cases, mostly husbands pronounce divorce through serving notice
to Union Council and to opposite party as legal requirement of section 7 of Muslim Family Laws
Ordinance, 1961 and the divorce is executed through registration of divorce under Muslim
Marriage and Divorce Registration Act, 1974.
In most of the cases wives also pronounce divorce through exercising her delegated power
(Talak E Tafiz) and the execution of divorce is almost same (service of notice and registration
before Nikah Registrar). As a result a large number of divorce cases both by husband and wife
are executed in Bangladesh without going to court. But, for subsequent claims of both the parties
like dower demand, maintenance of child, guardianship of child, restitution of conjugal rights,
both the parties often go to the court. Even after divorce, wives files different criminal cases
against husband in order to create pressure and to resolve other marital claims.
Here, 'Judicial Divorce' would be the best way of exit from family relations, and at the same
time, other related issues like dower demand, maintenance, custody of the child, restitution of
conjugal rights would be dissolved along with this divorce case before court. It would not be
necessary for the wife to file criminal cases for creating pressure upon the husband to reconsider
his decision of divorce, as the wife would get the forum to defend the divorce decision.
Judicial divorce can be done under some grounds.
 Lian: Where the wife is charged with adultery and the charge is false. She can file a
regular suit for dissolution of marriage as a mere application to the court is not the proper
procedure.15
 Fask: The cancellation, abolition, revocation, annulment. Before the passing of the
dissolution of Marriage Act, Muslim women could only apply for the dissolution of their
marriage under the doctrine of Fask.
A Muslim woman may file for divorce on the following grounds-
 That the whereabouts of the husband have not been known for a period of 4 years
 That the husband has neglected or has failed to provide for her maintenance for a period
of two years.16
 That the husband has been sentenced to imprisonment for a period of seven years or
upwards.
 That the husband has failed to fulfill his marital obligation for a period of three years.
 That the husband has been insane for two years or is suffering from leprosy or a virulent
form of venereal disease.
 That the husband was impotent at the time of marriage and continues to be so.

15
14 DLR 854
16
Abed Awad and Hany Mawla (2013). "Divorce. Legal Foundations". The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Islam and
Women. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2017-02-04.
The women, having being given in marriage by her father or other guardian before she attained
the age of 15 years, repudiated the marriage before attaining the age of 18.
Trends of Divorce Rate in Bangladesh :
The data collected using this schedule include name and code of divorce/separated persons, sex,
age, religion, level of education, reason for divorce/separation, marital status, age at marriage
and duration of marriage. The following indicators were generated from the divorce/separation
schedule:

 Crude divorce rate;

 Crude separation rate;
 Divorce-marriage separation rate;
 Age-specific divorce rate;
 Age-specific separation rate;
 General divorce rate (GDR);
 General separation rate (GSR);
 Reasons for divorce and
 Reasons for separation.

1.Crude Divorce Rate and Crude Separation Rate:

In all previous SVRSs, crude divorce rate has been calculated as the number of divorces per
1000 population. In the same way crude separation rate was calculated as the number of
separations per 1000 population. Crude divorce rates and separation rates as obtained from
SVRS 2018 are shown in Table 1.
As can be seen from the table, about one (0.9) in every 1000 population, experienced divorce.
The rural people are about 57 percent more likely than their urban counterpart to end their
marriage in divorce. Rajshahi division experiences the highest rate of divorce (1.7 per thousand
population) followed by Khulna (1.4). The rate is the lowest in Chattogram and Sylhet divisions
each with a prevalence of 0.5 per thousand population.
In line with the other demographic measures, Muslims are more prone to end their marriage in
divorce with a rate of 1.0 per 1000 population. The corresponding rate among the Hindus is 0.2.
It is largely due to the fact that Hindu marriage is a pre-ordained union and there is little scope
for dissolution by divorce. Christians and others however have an intermediate rate of divorce
(0.3) falling between the Muslims and the Hindus. Educational level of the women by and large
appears to have a positive association with the crude divorce rate.
Divorce Marriage Ratio :
Another measure of divorce is the divorce to marriage ratio, which is the number of divorces to
the number of marriages in a given year (the ratio of the crude divorce rate to the crude marriage
rate). For example, if there are 500 divorces and 1000 marriages in a given year in a given area,
the ratio would be one divorce for every two marriages, e.g. a ratio of 0.5 (50%). The ratios
calculated in this fashion are also presented in Table 1 by the background characteristics of the
population. The overall divorce to marriage ratio for the 2018 sample is 0.06, meaning that 6 per
cent of the marriages in the area ended in divorce. This ratio does not vary by urban-rural
residence, while substantial variations were noted among the administrative divisions, the risk
being the highest {0.10) in Rajshahi division followed by Khulna division (0.08)). The lowest
rate (0.03) was recorded in Chattogram division. The risk significantly varies by religious
affiliation being highly prevalent among the Muslims (0.07). Followers of other religions had a
rate of 0.02.Education has a negative relationship with the risk factor in question: 0.11 among
those who have no education and 0.03 among those who have secondary and above level of
education.
General Divorce Rate (GDR):
General divorce rate (GDR) has been calculated as the relative number of divorces of age 15+
per 1000 population of the same age. General Divorce Rate by sex and division are presented in
Table no 1. The overall GDR is 1.3 for both sexes, there being no sex differential (2.6 for each
sex).
The general divorce rate (GDR) is much higher in rural area (1.6) compared to urban area (1.0)
without recording any variation by sex. The rate appears to have wide regional variations for
both males and females. An examination of the results presented in Table 1 reveals that Rajshahi
division experiences the highest GDR, 4.5 for males and 4.6 for females followed by Khulna
division (3.7 for both males and females) while the lowest rate (1.4 for males and 1.3 for
females) was reported in Sylhet divisions. Muslims have the highest GDR (2.9 for both sexes)
than their Hindu counterparts. Education of the women seems to have a very weak but positive
association with the divorce rate.
Table 1: Crude Divorce rate, Divorce-marriage ratio and General Divorce rate by
background characteristics.

Background Crude Crude Divorce- GDR Both GDR GDR

characteristic divorce Marriage Marriage sex Male Female
s rate rate ratio
Residence:
Rural 1.1 17.2 0.06 1.6 3.1 3.1
Urban 0.7 11.5 0.06 1.0 2.0 2.0
Division:
Barishal 1.0 14.5 0.07 1.4 2.7 2.7
Chattogram 0.5 14.5 0.03 0.8 1.6 1.6
Dhaka 0.8 12.2 0.07 1.1 2.2 2.1
Khulna 1.4 16.7 0.08 1.9 3.7 3.7
 Rajshahi 1.7 17.0 0.10 2.3 4.5 4.6
Rangpur 0.8 16.6 0.05 1.2 2.3 2.4
Sylhet 0.5 11.7 0.04 0.7 1.4 1.3
Mymensingh 1.0 15.2 0.07 1.4 2.8 2.8
Religion:
Muslim 1.0 14.9 0.07 1.4 2.9 2.9
Hindu 0.2 12.4 0.02 0.3 0.5 0.6
Others 0.3 14.3 0.02 0.4 0.9 0.9
Education:
No Education 0.3 2.8 0.11 0.6 1.4 1.1
Primary 0.9 10.2 0.09 1.5 3.0 3.1
Secondary 1.5 24.2 0.06 1.8 3.7 3.5
Secondary + 0.9 29.9 0.03 1.9 1.6 2.3
Total: 0.9 14.7 0.06 1.3 2.6 2.6
Source: Report on Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics, 2018
Age-Specific Divorce Rate:
Age-specific divorce rate for a specified age group has been calculated as the relative number of
divorces of defined age group per 1000 population of the age group. Age specific divorce rates
as obtained in 2018, are shown in Table 2 and 3. The results of this investigation reveal that the
rates in question do not follow any pattern with respect to the current age. It is particularly true
for males in the rural area without any discrimination between urban and rural areas. The
prevalence of divorce among the males is pronounced when they are in their twenties.
Table 2: Age-specific divorce rates by sex and residence in Rural-

Age Group Male Female Both Sex

15-19 0.5 6.9 3.2

20-24 2.4 5.5 3.9

25-29 2.3 2.6 2.5

30-34 1.7 1.5 1.6

35+ 0.3 0.3 0.3

Total 1.0 2.2 1.6

Source: Report on Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics, 2018

Table 3: Age specific divorce rates by sex and residence in Urban-

Age Group Male Female Both Sex

15-19 0.3 3.3 1.7

20-24 1.3 2.7 2.0

25-29 1.7 1.9 1.8

30-34 1.4 1.0 1.2

35+ 0.3 0.3 0.3

Total 0.7 1.3 1.0

Source: Report on Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics, 2018

Trends in Marriage, Divorce and Separation: 2011-2018

The trends in some marriage and marriage related indicators are summarized in Table 4. The
crude marriage rate shows a substantial increase over the last 14 years, from 13.0 per thousand
population in 2005 to 14.7 per thousand population in 2018, an increase of over 12.0 percent
over the stated period. The increase in general marriage rates for both males and females have
been pronounced during 2005-2017: from 19 in 2005 to 41.4 in 2018 for males. The
corresponding rates for females are 21.5 and 41.0. There has been essentially negligible increase
in crude divorce rate and crude separation rate over the period under investigation. The Singulate
mean age at marriage for both males and females has marked a negligible and irregular increase
during this period. There is a tendency for the crude divorce rate to increase over time: from 0.7
in 2006 to 0.9 in 2018, although the pattern of increase is somewhat erratic. Mean age at
marriage (irrespective of marital status) for males has shown virtually no trend over this period,
from 25.3 years in 2005 to 25.5 years in 2018. The corresponding increase for females is from
17.9 years to 18.9 years. Mean age at first marriage remains static over the last five years or so.
Table 4: Trends in indicators of marriage, divorce and separation,2011-2018
Background 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Characteristics

Crude Marriage Rate 13.4 13.3 13.0 12.9 13.0 14.3 14.6 14.7

General marriage rate 19.7 19.3 19.1 19.0 18.8 20.6 20.7 20.6
Male 18.1 38.1 38.1 38.1 37.9 41.3 41.4 41.4
 Female 21.2 39.1 38.4 37.7 37.4 41.2 41.3 41.0
Crude Divorce Rate 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.9 0.9 1.1 1.0 0.9

General Divorce Rate

Male — 0.7 1.8 2.8 2.6 3.1 2.8 2.6
Female — 1.7 1.9 2.7 2.6 3.1 2.8 2.6
Crude Separation Rate 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.3

General Separation
Rate
Male — 0.4 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.1 0.9 0.9
Female — 0.6 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.1 0.9 0.9
Source: Report on Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics, 2018

Trends of Divorce in Dhaka:

Social transition and change in marital dynamics closely linked with each other. Since last six
years at least 50000 divorce applications were filed in the capital of Bangladesh that indicates on
average one divorce application filed per hour, this is the present scenario of a traditional society
like Bangladesh. In large port city of Bangladesh, Chittagong experienced 2532 applications
have been filed at the beginning of 2018. 17Majority of these divorce applications had been filed
by women as a result of marital conflict however this pattern shed lights on women
empowerment. Some common reasons for women were husband’s suspicious nature, extra
marital affair, dowry, Facebook addiction and partner impotence. For men the reasons were wife
not leading life according to religious manner, ill tempered, indifference towards family,
disobeying their husband’s order and infertile.18
It shows that divorce has doubled throughout the last decade. In 2006, divorce rate was 0.6 per
one thousand of the population and this increased to 1.1 in 2016.19
Table 5 shows the registered files but there are numerous cases those are not filed and the
divorce are done verbally in a religious setting like Bangladesh. This data shows an alarming rate
of divorce which is increasing every year. Though Dhaka city doesn’t imply the total scenario of

17
Ghose, S., & Hossain, M. (2018, August 08). One divorce per hour in Dhaka. Prothom Alo. Retrieved from
https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/news/182345/One-divorce-in-Dhaka-every-hour.
18
Nowshin, N. (2018, September 03). Understanding the rise in divorce in Bangladesh. The Daily Star. Retrieved
from https://www.thedailystar.net/news/opinion/perspective/understanding-the-rise-divorce-bangladesh-
1628311.
19
BBS (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics) (2017). Report on Sample Vital Registration System 2016, Dhaka: Ministry
of Planning, Government of People's Republic of Bangladesh.
divorce in Bangladesh but due to data scarcity data regarding divorce rate we will only the data
from Dhaka City Corporation has been showed.
Rajshahi division had the highest rate of divorce, 1.9 per thousand, by Khulna, 1.3. In rural areas,
the divorce rate was 1.3 per thousand. In urban areas it was 0.8. 20 Besides a recent study found
that, irrespective of sex in the poorest wealth quintile the rate of divorce is higher. Studies of
western world showed that urbanization and modernization promote individualistic behavior and
enfeeble taboo of divorce which in turn increases the rate of divorce.
Nevertheless, in developing countries like Bangladesh termination of marriage solely
handicapped women and make them socially and economically vulnerable. Thus, female headed
households face more economic hardship compared to male headed households in Bangladesh
and again this scenario is highly prominent in poorest wealth quintile. 21However, whatever the
reason is, divorce in a country like Bangladesh, comes with serious consequences. An array of
social, economic, psychological consequences are on line for divorcee and most importantly,
women have to share most of the consequences solely. Bangladeshi culture has a negative
attitude toward divorce from past. But this perception is gradually changing and will be changed
in future. Data that are available in Bangladesh is not able to show regional or divisional
difference of divorce
Table 5: Trends of Divorce Rate in Dhaka City-

Year Number of divorce application in Number of divorce application in DSCC

DNCC
2012 2884 4518

2013 3238 4470

2014 4445 4600

2015 4077 4761

2016 4847 4897

2017 5046 5245

Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics Report, 2017

Divorce scenario in recent Pandemic:

20
Ahmad, R., & Molla, M. A. M. (2017, August 04). Divorce doubles, separation triples in one decade. The Daily
Star. Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/marriages-get-shaky-1443259
21
Hossain, B. M., Gafur, T., Islam, M. M., & Hasan, S. M. (2015). Trends, patterns and determinants of marriage in
Bangladesh, population monograph. Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Divorce was once thought to be an ailment of capitalist societies in the Western world. But
recently we came across an eye-opening statistics of talak or divorce rate reported by a leading
Bangla daily. Though the rest of the country lags far behind, urban centres like Dhaka,
Chattogram and Sylhet seem to have defeated some of the western countries in number of
divorces. As many as 39 divorces are taking place in the capital every day or one divorce in
every 37 minutes in the five months from June. It is indeed beyond our imagination. Chattogram
follows with 18 divorces a day. But it is Sylhet where submission of divorce appeal has gone up
10 times higher in the first 10 months of this year.
Particularly, in June we saw a surge of divorce notices. Between June and October, 5,970
divorces were completed.22 In a city of 18 million, divorce had been already high before the
pandemic. In 2019, the number of divorces was 920 in each month during the five months under
review as against 1,194 ---an increase of 29.78 per cent. The grim scenario also depicts how the
corona pandemic has messed up the conjugal lives of many crossing the level of tolerance.
As it becomes crystal clear, couples already suffering strained relations found this pandemic
either more oppressive or used it as an excuse for getting rid of their husbands or wives. This
increasing trend of breakup marriage ties certainly corresponds to a higher incidence of domestic
violence reported both in countries like Bangladesh and in cosmopolitan and advanced countries
of the western world. For some people spending time with dominant partners who are also
oppressive makes things worse and simply impossible for them to stay glued together.
Furthermore, one of the reasons is financial constraint triggered by the lockdown. As high as 70
per cent divorce petitions were filed by women. This further highlights male domination and at
the same time a positive trend that women receive support from their parents' families and the
antithesis of the stigma attached to women divorcees.23
However, it is acknowledged by everyone that the ultimate victims of a broken family are
children. Children become deprived of love and care of their parents. Therefore, the parents must
open the door of reconciliation. They also need to be more tolerant. Couples must sincerely and
mutually work to make their marriages joyful. Lastly, a culturally developed mindset is needed
to get rid of from this malaise.
Reasons behind Increasing Dissolution of Marriage:
Every instance of divorce brings a unique combination of such causes. Researchers have looked
at factors affecting both wider societal divorce rates and individual divorce decisions.
Determinants of divorce in context of Bangladesh are discussed as follows:
i.Women’s Independence: Women's economic independence stands as one of the most crucial
factors for increase in divorce. Women's participation rate in the labour force in Bangladesh has
22
https://m.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/%E0%A6%A2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A7%9F
%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%87%E0%A7%A9%E0%A7%AF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE
%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95
23
https://www.observerbd.com/news.php?id=290993
increased by eight times in the last four decades—from four percent in 1974 to 35.6 percent in
2016. Beside, girl’s school enrollment has increased 30% since 2001 and literacy rate for females
has risen from 43.74% to 69.90% between 2006 and 2016. It is true that much of Bangladeshi
women's increased freedom in their personal lives today has to do with their ever increased
decision making power and less dependence on the spouse means there's less of a need to remain
tied to an abusive marriage.
ii. Impotency & Infertility: The sexual relationship is important for a happy marital life,
because it is not only individual’s biological need; it is closely related with the emotional
bonding between husband and wife. A 2011 study has identified impotency, that is, husband
having problem in establishing sexual relationship was identified as one of the significant cause
for divorce.
iii. Physical Unfitness: Many women and men in Bangladesh have given divorce on the ground
of physical unfitness. When either husband or wife is not capable to give birth baby because of
issues like sperm failure or infertility, it may be considered as physical unfitness. A recent study
also identified that impotency and infertility as a reason for increasing rate of divorce.
iv. Domestic Abuse & Dowry: Domestic abuse and violence often lead to the deterioration of
marital harmony. It is not uncommon that women are still abused in their home. There might be
a significant decrease in physical abuse over decades, but, sometimes, verbal and mental abuse is
such that it is worse than the physical abuse. One of a major source of violence against women is
dowry. Women, mostly in rural areas are forced and tortured to bring dowry. There has been 108
case of physical torture and 126 cases of tortured to death for dowry in 2016 in Bangladesh. 105
cases filed in 2018.
v. Women’s Empowerment: The independence of women has been associated with increase in
freedom of voice and to protest. Women, as before, do not just bear the physical, mental torture.
They does what needs to be done. Previously, they had to tolerate, and even they have given life
because of abuse. The occurrence of “tortured to death” has been declining over time and also
the case of physical torture. According to BBS, violence against women, dowry and related
abuse is a crucial determinant for female to give divorce in Bangladesh.
vi. Extra-Marital Affair: Extra marital relation has become another major ground for divorce in
Bangladesh. Previously, if their husband brought another wife without the permission of the
previous, women were supposed to maintain silence. This is not the case in recent. Women, now
raise their voice if such things happen and more likely to divorce their husband than a few
decades ago. BBS showed that, it has become one of the significant cause for women to divorce.
Besides, increasing case of female getting involved in extra-marital affair also causing the
incidence of divorce from male.24

24
Nowshin, N. (2018, September 03). Understanding the rise in divorce in Bangladesh. The Daily Star. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.thedailystar.net/news/opinion/perspective/understanding-the-rise-divorce-bangladesh-
1628311.
vii. Alcohol, Drug: Over use of alcohol, drug or gambling are usually all forms of addiction,
which can ruin relationships. The problem becomes worst when combined with physical or
verbal abuse. Addicts generally do not have control over themselves and they come into clash
and torture the wife even in trivial matters. Unless the addiction get recovered, it becomes
difficult to continue the marital life as marital discord, leading to abuse and torture tend to
increase. A study 2011 study showed that, alcohol and drug use is becoming a significant reason
for divorce and the prevalence of this, is increasing every year.25
viii.Influence of Social Media: Besides, excessive integration in social media like Facebook,
WhatsApp, Viber, Instagram etc. cause a distance and communication gap between couple [28].
The higher the integration, the higher the probability of lack of understanding among couple,
lack of quality time between couple. This results in husbands or wives being suspicious of their
partners, which eventually destroy the bonding. Besides, coming in contact with new people
through social media increases the probability of husband or wife getting involved in extra-
marital affair. The recent findings of BBS supports this as a significant factor as for divorce.
ix. Husband’s Economic incapacity: Economic solvency contribute to strengthening the
reciprocal relationship between husbands and wives. When a couple has enough to spend on
their daily and associated luxury needs, the marital relationship are likely to maintain a harmony.
Financial crisis, in contrast, creates discontents because of unfulfilling the gratifications in
conjugal life which also accelerates the process of separation and divorce between husbands and
wives.
x. Age at Marriage: The incidents of divorce were highest in the 25-29 age group [30]. Child
marriage was explored as one of the major causes of their divorce. Besides, now a days, there
have been an increase in adult boys and girls getting married without the consent of family when
they are in a relationship for many years. In most cases, they do so as soon as they reach the legal
age of marriage. This kind of inexperienced personal decision might also contribute in rise in
divorce in Bangladesh.
Reasons behind seeking Divorce Court:
Generally a dissolution of marriage held by the parties to give a notice to the chairman and the
other party. It complete after expire the period of 90 days.
Farhana Lukman, Legal Aid Officer, Cumilla says that less than 1% divorce matter are held in
family court. Almost dissolution are held by local authorities. But for specific reason many
divorce cases are filed in court and most of this filed by women. The reasons behind seeking
court for dissolution of marriage are given below:
For Lack of Co-operation :

25
Parvez, N. K. (2011). Social changes and women-initiated divorce in Dhaka, Bangladesh: Gaining or Loosing
Power?. Norway: The University of Bergen
For some people, divorce is such a shock that they refuse to accept it. This means they do not
sign important papers, and never hire a lawyer. They are in denial, and if one want to move
forward with the divorce, he/she will probably need to take this kind of person to court. There is
no point waiting for his/her ex to come to terms with the divorce, since he or she could be
struggling with it for years. One should not let his/her spouse’s inability to handle divorce stop
him from being happy. If he or she has simply disappeared or has stopped communicating with
one, it is time to go to court. This may just be the push he or she needs to finally realize the
divorce is happening, with or without the approval of their spouse.
For Refusal to Negotiate:
Many couples can eventually solve their problems outside the courtroom. It may take a few
months to get to this point, but it can typically be done, since most contested divorces soon
become uncontested. However, some couples include a spouse who is not willing to cooperate
when it comes to negotiations. Obviously, they both want as many of their assets as possible, and
they both want to see the children whenever they desire. But it is not usually possible for both of
them to get this outcome, so they will both need to compromise. One of them cannot demand the
house, car, children, all bank accounts, retirement accounts, and other assets, since they are
expected to split these items up. If their spouse refuses to budge, and insists on getting it all, it is
time to head to court to avoid wasting their time.
For Betrayal:
It is not unusual for one spouse to lie during divorce, just so he or she gets more assets. For
example, one spouse may insist he or she has less money than the other spouse indicates. If he
suspect that his spouse is hiding assets, he may need to go to court since there is no way to
negotiate with someone who refuses to tell the truth. If he was to negotiate at this point, he would
not end up with the equal amount he is supposed to get since not all the assets are there. The
same goes when he is figuring out alimony. If his spouse seems to be inflating expenses so he
have to pay more, he probably need help since negotiation will not get him the results he want.
If he think he may have to go to divorce court, he definitely need a lawyer to represent him. He is
advised to find a divorce lawyer with experience successfully representing clients in court so he
have the best chance of winning.
For Maintenance :
A wife seek divorce to the Family Court as she get maintenance to her and her children.
Sometimes they could not negotiate by themselves with the matter of maintenance. While
determining maintenance, husband and wife’s social respect and ability should be considered.
According to Quran if a husband is poor then the maintenance should be fixed according to
husband’s status. If the marriage contract does not state any amount for maintenance than court
will decide the amount by considering necessary facts. If the husband fraudulently preclude
himself to give the maintenance than wife can file a suit. If wife can proof her case than the court
will allow wife’s plea of maintenance.
For Guardianship:
At the time of divorce, a critical question arise who will be the guardian of the children. At this
time they want to get guardianship of the children. For this critical situation, they both seek
courts to get guardianship after dissolution of the marriage.
When I interviewing some person I shocked to see that both husband and wife don’t want to take
guardianship of the children. Here, husband said that how he nurture the baby. And he refused to
take guardianship of the baby. On the other hand, the wife said that she can’t pass her rest of life
with the fatherless child. She wants to get new life.
Thus, a dissolution of marriage comes to the court, though there has an alternative to negotiate
by their family.
For Financial Settlement:
At time of dissolution, the party could negotiate with the financial matters. Generally, the wife
seeks court for dissolution and settlement of the assets of them. But this tradition are very rare to
rural people. A modern class people and educated conscious women claimed the share of the
assets. When they failed to negotiate then they seek court to fix the share as her right.
For Dower Money :
The Mahr/Dower is something that is paid by the husband to his wife. It is paid to the wife only
as an honour and respect and to show that he has a serious desire to marry her and is not simply
entering into the marriage contract without any sense of responsibility and obligation or effort on
his part. It is also a provision for her rainy days and socially it became a check on the capricious
exercise by the husband of his unlimited power of divorce.
It was found in a study of the metropolitan city of Dhaka that 88% of Muslim wives did not
receive any dower at all. If this is the situation in the capital city, one can anticipate an alarming
situation in the rural remote areas. The women in Bangladesh are being subordinated come in, as
women are dominated in the patriarchal family and in the wider socio-religious arena. Though
dower is the right of women and they should get it during martial life but they have to bargain
with her ex to get it at the time of dissolution. And thus this dissolution came to the family court.
Cruelty :
The wife seeks to the court for dissolution for the act of cruelty by his husband and husband
family. In Bangladesh It’s a common incident that the wife seeks to the court against her father
in law's house and want divorce. Cruelty is a specific fault ground. Cruelty is the most frequently
used reason in seeking a divorce.
Whether a spouse has committed the act of cruelty against the other spouse is determined on a
case-by-case basis. Cruelty may consist of physical violence; other conduct that endangers the
life or safety of the complaining spouse; abusive or derogatory language; neglect; humiliation;
threats of violence, etc. A single act of cruelty must generally be extreme to be sufficient for
filing a divorce complaint. There is great variance. Generally, cruelty involves actions that harm
or endanger mental or physical health.
Examples of acts that have been considered cruelty are:
 Physical attacks upon a spouse;
 A spouse, knowing he or she is afflicted with a sexually transmitted disease, continues to
maintain sexual relations and communicates the disease to the other spouse, who did not
know about the disease;
 Repeatedly yelling, screaming or displaying rage;
 Constantly criticizing a spouse’s abilities as a homemaker, breadwinner, parent or
spouse;
 Staying away from the house too often without an explanation;
 Publicly flaunting a relationship with another man or woman; and
 Wrongfully accusing the other spouse of adulterous relations with another man or
woman.
If you or someone you know are considering filing for divorce on the basis of mental or physical
cruelty, it is important to remember that the acts of cruelty must be severe enough that it is not
proper or safe for the couple to continue living together. The treatment must be more than mere
incompatibility between husband and wife.
Separation by Hindu:
Hindus are not allowed to divorce their spouse as they consider marriage as a sacred relationship,
a divine covenant and sacrament. In Bangladesh, technically there is still no law that grants a
Hindu person a right to affect a divorce against their partner. But, a Hindu married woman may
seek entitlement to separate residence and maintenance pursuant to the grounds laid down in the
1946 Act. On the other hand, in India, according to Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, both the husband
as well as the wife has the right to file case and seek termination of the marriage.
Reasons behind Increasing Divorce by Women:
In Bangladesh about 70 per cent divorce are petitioned by women.On November 18, 19 divorce
were filed by women from the 25 divorce applications at the North City mayor's office. In the
petitions, almost all the reasons for divorce were lack of understanding between the husband and
wife. The reasons given by the wife for the application include non-payment of alimony, torture
in demanding dowry, suspicious attitude of the husband, relationship with another woman, drug
addiction, impotence, conflict of personality.26
According to the data of the two city corporations, the application for divorce is more from the
wife. In the North and South, about 70 percent of divorce applications come from the wife.
Officials of the two city corporations say that if the daughter had been divorced earlier, there
would have been various discussions in the society, besides the family did not want to give
shelter to the daughter. Now the family is also supporting the girl to save her from torture by
raising social awareness. A recent statistics shows that there some reason behind increasing
divorce from wife and these are given below:-
For non-payment of alimony:
A wife seek divorce to the Family Court as she get maintenance to her and her children.
Sometimes they could not negotiate by themselves with the matter of maintenance. While
determining maintenance, husband and wife’s social respect and ability should be considered.
According to Quran if a husband is poor then the maintenance should be fixed according to
husband’s status. If the marriage contract does not state any amount for maintenance than court
will decide the amount by considering necessary facts. If the husband fraudulently preclude
himself to give the maintenance than wife can file a suit. If wife can proof her case than the court
will allow wife’s plea of maintenance.
Torture in demanding Dowry:
Dowry has been one of the leading causes of torture of women in Bangladesh. Dowry refers to
money or valuable property, which are demanded by the husband or in -laws from a bride’s
family as a consideration of marriage. One of the most damaging but overlooked consequences
of dowry is that dowry-related disputes lead to divorce or polygamous marriage with little or no
redress for women.
Sometimes husband torture wife for dowry money. But now women are more aware about their
right. That’s the reason of filing divorce by women.
Extra-marital Relationship with another person:
Relationship with another person has become another major ground for divorce in Bangladesh.
Previously, if their husband brought another wife without the permission of the previous, women
were supposed to maintain silence. This is not the case in recent. Women, now raise their voice if
such things happen and more likely to divorce their husband than a few decades ago. BBS
showed that, it has become one of the significant cause for women to divorce. Besides,

26
https://m.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/%E0%A6%A2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BE%E0%A7%9F%E0%A
%A6%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%87%E0%A7%A9%E0%A7%AF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE
%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95
increasing case of female getting involved in extra-marital affair also causing the incidence of
divorce from male.27
Drug Addiction:
Over use of alcohol, drug or gambling are usually all forms of addiction, which can ruin
relationships. The problem becomes worst when combined with physical or verbal abuse.
Addicts generally do not have control over themselves and they come into clash and torture the
wife even in trivial matters. Unless the addiction get recovered, it becomes difficult to continue
the marital life as marital discord, leading to abuse and torture tend to increase. A study 2011
study showed that, alcohol and drug use is becoming a significant reason for divorce and the
prevalence of this, is increasing every year.28
Higher Education:
Now in Bangladesh, women are more educated and aware of their right from the past decade.
Now women has the right to express her attitude to husbands family. In modern family women
contribute decision making power. Now they want to choose making her own decision. If there
anything crisis occurs in the family that there has lack of understanding between husband and
wife, the wife can express her mind to divorce.
Women empowerment:
Now, in this World has the trend of women empowerment. Women empowerment is the cause of
increasing divorce by women in Bangladesh. They are not willing to stay under dominate of the
men. Many NGO’s are counselling women about their rights. These NGO’s are aiding women in
social and legal crisis.
Reasons of decreasing divorce through Court:
Most of the dissolution of marriage are petitioned in Chairmen and City corporation office. Less
than one percent divorce are filed in court.29 Again which cases are file into the court these are go
under the pre-trial process. There are some reason for which there decreases divorce rate in the
court are given below:
For Conciliation:
When the written statement is filed, the Family Court fix a date ordinarily of not more than thirty
days for a pre-trial hearing of the suit. On the date fixed for pre-trial hearing, the Court examines
the plaint, the written statement and documents filed by the parties and shall also, if it so deems

27
Nowshin, N. (2018, September 03). Understanding the rise in divorce in Bangladesh. The Daily Star. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.thedailystar.net/news/opinion/perspective/understanding-the-rise-divorce-bangladesh-
1628311.
28
Parvez, N. K. (2011). Social changes and women-initiated divorce in Dhaka, Bangladesh: Gaining or Loosing
Power?. Norway: The University of Bergen
29
District Legal Aid Office, Cumilla
fit, hear the parties. At the pre-trial hearing, the Court ascertains the points at issue between the
parties and attempt to effect a compromise or reconciliation between the parties. About 35% of
these case are compromised by the parties.30
Procrastination of the Court procedure:
In Bangladesh, the activities of the court are very steady. In comparison between court and local
government, the local government are faster than the court. Such a crisis moment like divorce the
spouse are not willing to go to court because of the steadiness. Dissolution of marriage other than
the court is simple and effective. That is why, though divorce rate are increasing all over
Bangladesh but the rate is very low in the court.
Reluctance to involve in legal trouble:
Many people aren’t interest to get involve in legal matter. They deemed that trouble to them.As
alternative of the court, they prefer reconciliation the most. As dissolution of marriage under
extra judicial is simple and effective, they didn’t want to get into the trouble in the court and
waste their time and money.
As Defamatory:
In rural area, it’s a taboo to go to the court that It’s a defamatory thing. Seeking to the court for
dissolution of marriage is scandalous for these women. Thus they have to compromise the matter
and comply with the decision of the husband house or simple to divorce notice to husband.
Adverse Consequences of Divorce:
Divorce has some universal consequences. But, in countries like Bangladesh, consequences are
devastating. Especially for women. Who suffers more from divorce: men or women?. The
answer to this question is sorrowful. Whoever among a couple want a divorce, the consequences
are always devastating for women only! After divorce, women experience declines in household
income, standard of living as well as sharp increases in the risk of poverty, face depression,
social stigma and so on. In general, women have to suffer more than men after a divorce. The
Bangladesh Planning Commission acknowledges that women are more vulnerable to becoming
poor when they lose the male earning member of the family because of divorce. However, most
devastating Consequences of divorce for both male and female are the followings:
i. Social and Psychological consequences
a) Stigma
Due to divorce, women are very prone to live under the disguise of social stigma than men in the
society. A recent study showed that, in Bangladesh, people allege women for divorce and
consider them as ‘bad woman’. They have to tolerate teasing of neighbours. People makes a
change in attitude and their looks when treating a divorced women. In our society, it is seen as a
30
Family Court, Cumilla
question of womanhood that a woman didn’t become able to continue her marital life. To avoid
the situations they usually have to remain inside the home. In sum, divorced women become
public ridicule and face social exclusion.
b) Family Dissatisfaction:
With the passage of time, relationship with family members and parents start to Deteriorate.
Divorced women might be regarded as a burden to a family after some time. Besides, it is not
uncommon in our society that family gets socially damaged because of the divorced women.
Family has to face difficulty in order to give marriage to other members when there is a divorced
member in that family. The same study in Sylhet showed that, their siblings were annoyed at
them after their divorce. Most of the informants shared that they did not have the same relation
with their siblings as it was before divorce. And when such situation comes and women tries to
manage a separate house for themselves, they usually get refused as because of being a divorced
Women.
c) Psychological impact and lack in Ability:
Psychological impacts are dire for both male and female, but female shares the higher burden
because of Bangladeshi society. Divorce, whether formal or informal, may contain the
probability of stressful events in personal life. Divorced people tend to experience increased
depressive feelings over time and pass the days with great psychological stress. They become
more susceptible to mentally illness . A study in Dhaka showed that the divorce left them with
pain, anxiety, and uncertainty and with the feeling of failure because they had not been able to
continue their marriage for the rest of their life. After separation, as a result of psychological
impact, many of the people become unable to restore the impaired personality. It becomes very
difficult for them to concentrate on their daily doings and confront a reduced ability in
themselves which in turn affect their mental health.
ii. Economic consequences:
Economic Harm and Decline in Standard of Living:
Divorced or separated women struggle to cope financially. According to in Bangladesh
“Divorce” has been identified as a key cause of poverty among female-headed households are
divorced. 95% of all female-headed divorced households fell below the poverty line. Besides, in
most cases women do not get the full payment that was promised in married certificate. A study
in Dhaka showed that, 40% divorcees were completely paid while 35% not paid at all and 25%
not concerned of it. However, as more women are employed with better wages, this income
decline is less painful than before, even though it is still prevailing as women are more likely to
face poverty and they are the one, primarily responsible for childbearing, their standard of living
drastically falls. They come face to face with challenges to ensure minimum needs in order to
live for both mother and child.
Housing Problem:
Housing is often the first casualty for divorced or separated women. Since after marriage, wife
moves to her husband’s house, after divorce, they have to leave the house. After divorce, women
generally have to reside in their parent’s home or with their siblings. In absence of mother, they
have to lead a miserable life in father’s house. Many have family or friends who might help, but
getting required help after divorce is not common in case of residence. A study in Sylhet showed
that, 20% of the respondents were living under impossible situations.
iii.Health Consequences
Food insecurity:
The difficulty in securing maintenance often result in poverty, which contributes to food
insecurity, poor health and is a barrier to accessing health care. Food security is in jeopardy for
many divorced and separated women in Bangladesh. Overall, 38 percent of female-headed
households were classified by the WFP as “food insecure “compared to 23 percent of couples.
Health care seeking behavior:
Besides, A 2000 study showed that, in 79% of cases, divorced women cannotbe able to seek the
required health care. Many women reported about shortage of money to purchase health Care.
iv.Impact on Children
If couple have children at the time of their divorce, it could have serious consequences for a
child. Divorce generally puts children at greater risk for many kinds of problems.
Loneliness:
Persistent feelings of loneliness are common in children of divorce. In later life, the adult
children of divorce, rate their current relationships with both mother and father less positively
than do children from intact marriages. They rate their current relationships with both mother
and father less positively than do children from intact marriages. During the time of divorce a
child’s emotional security also becomes more fragile issue. Fears that both parents will abandon
the child are common.
Psychological Consequences:
Depending on the age of the child, in various ways a child might express his/her damaged
Psychological state:
 Large amounts of anger, directed both toward others and themselves, frequent breaking
of rules, sleep problems, defying parents or teachers, frequent guilt, increasing isolation
or withdrawal from friends and family, drug and/or alcohol abuse, early sexual activity,
thoughts of suicide or violence.
  Many children of divorce believe that they caused the divorce or that they did something
wrong that made one or both parents not want to be with them. These feelings can cause a
child to feel sad, depressed, and angry. These negative emotions can contribute to other
problems, such as poor health, difficulty in school, poor academic performance and
problems with friends.
 In addition, some scholars believe that children of divorce are less likely to learn crucial
social skills in the home, such as cooperation, negotiation, and compromise that are
necessary for success in life. Children exposed to high levels of conflict between their
parents, both before and after a divorce, may learn to model the poor communication of
their parents. This can increase the likelihood of conflict in their own personal
relationships as children and even as adults.
Food and Health Insecurity:
Food insecurity becomes a significant problem for children among female-headed households
generally in Bangladesh. A study found that nearly double the number of female-headed
households managed only 2 meals per day for herself & their children, compared to their male
counterparts. Several divorced or separated women told Human Rights Watch that, they
struggled to feed themselves and their children after divorce or Separation. Children of divorced
parents, are also at risk of ill health. Research has shown dramatic differences in terms of health
and access to health care for children of female-headed households. A study, for instance, found
that infant mortality was more than double for infants with divorced mothers than married
mothers in the location studied. Another study found that 65 percent of sick children in “male
headed households” had access to health care compared with only 44 percent of sick children in
female-headed households.
Children’s Education and Child Labour:
The economic toll from Bangladesh’s discriminatory personal laws leads many divorced women
ড় to pull their children out of school and put them to work. Studies show that school drop-outs
are a major problem for children in female-headed households. The 2009 Millennium
Development Goals progress report for Bangladesh stated that about 88% of female-headed
households as a result of divorce, reported that their children had dropped out of school. Several
divorced or separated women told Human Rights Watch that they sent their daughters to work as
domestic workers when they were forced out of their marital homes, usually by cutting short
their boy’s and girls’ education. In cases of girls, most of the girls leave education and start to
work at garment factory or unpaid household works.
Issues Arises during Dissolution of Marriage through Court:
Inadequate number of Judge:
Though dissolution of marriage are numerously petitioned in local government, but it is more
effective under the procedure of the Family Court. There are no possibilities to arise any issues
during the after divorce. When the court made any decree about dissolution of marriage, the
court always keep in mind the matter of maintenance, guardianship, dower money, wife’s
financial status etc. So, there are no difficulties arises after dissolution of marriage. But in our
country, there have inadequate number of judges in family court to solve this problem.
Biased Lawyer:
In our country, there have possibilities of biased lawyer in dissolution of marriage in family
court. For this, the parties of the dissolution of marriage may not get fair decree. Thus a women
will be more prejudice than the men. Here she may not get proper maintenance or financial
support.
Financial Inadequacy:
Financial issues is one of the great difficulties to seeking court for the parties for dissolution of
marriage. Our country has large number of people under poverty line. They could not seek
divorce in the court for inadequacy of financial support.
Absence of divorce provision for Hindu:
In Bangladesh, there are no provision of dissolution of marriage for Hindus. They deemed
marriage as a sacred relationship. They cannot divorce their spouse whatever they mutually
agreed. They can only seek to the court for separate residence and maintenance on limited
grounds. But our neighbour country has the provision for dissolution of marriage for Hindu.
Recommendations:
 There should include a provision of divorce for Hindu.
 The pre-trial process should be compulsory for dissolution of marriage by the family
court.
 Alternative Dispute Resolution system should be imposed extensively by the court.
 There can be appoint a legal efficient person or lawyer in local government for
dissolution of marriage.
 Government may train the person holding local government for dissolution of marriage.
 Work toward comprehensive reform of Bangladesh’s laws on divorce with special focus
for women.
 Raise nationwide awareness about the existing attitude and stigma on divorce.
 In order to divorce, after the official application, a period of three months are provided
for further consideration. As divorce in our society includes a lot of social, psychological
and economic consequences, any intervention needed like counselling should be provided
to think thoroughly whether the divorce is actually necessary. If the decision of divorce
stem from trivial matters, it should be addressed and solved.
 Ensure access to divorce is on an equal basis for men and women.
 Sensitize the idea of Re-Marriage after divorce.
  Effective and special attention is necessary to the children of divorced family to make
them be able to be resilient and strong and to help them to return to their normal life.
 Ensure the compensation payment to women after divorce without time lag and necessary
steps should be taken to guarantee the social security of women.
 There should be some private, governmental and individual initiatives to mitigate the
stigmatized attitude toward divorced.
Limitations of the Study
As the research has amazed only the accessible documents,
sample area is not wide. Only one method has been followed
in this study which can be controversial in drawing
generalization. Besides due to lack of data, it is quite
challenging to establish relationship between divorces with
other socio economic variables. It is an increasing phenomena.
Future Bangladesh will have to make policy and decisions
regarding single parent or divorced male and female. For that
time data availability is huge challenge besides in a setting of
Muslim majority and traditional belief divorce itself a
stigmatized issue so very few literature highlight on this
changing dynamic of marriage pattern in Bangladesh
Conclusion:
“Separation is better than distress.” Going through a divorce is a tough and mentally draining
event to experience. But it is actually better than staying in a bad marriage. Staying in a bad
marriage in our country might provide security but, getting a divorce give one’s a hope: a hope to
be who you want to be, the hope of another start the hope of shaping the life in one’s desired
way. Unfortunately divorce is not as easy as it should be in Bangladesh. There is no universal
marriage act, instead, here exists discriminatory religious law, where in extreme case, no
permission for divorce. No one expect a divorce to happen. But when it comes to situation where
it is required, then environmental and the legal facilities should be in place to minimize the
consequence at the least level as possible. With modernization, globalization, urbanization and
constant change in the family structure divorce is rising in Bangladesh, no doubt about that. But
the risk it is arising due to its long term effect on putting on the broken family child. In the West
as it a part of the culture now there are policy intervention to deal with this issue. But this is not
the scenario of Bangladesh, so the government should take the alarming situation seriously and
save our future from getting into oblivion. Bangladesh is different in many demographic and
health related ways. However as the country uplifting herself towards development and
modernization it is high time to ponder over the change in marriage dynamics.
It is important to mention that the notion of sufficiency and fairness varies between people. For
some people after divorce, if the woman can somehow sustain herself even at a lower standard of
living than during marriage, and not receive a fair and almost equal share of assets accumulated
during marriage, that’s sufficient and fair. However, fairness is only ensured when the woman
after divorce can maintain the standard of living she had while being married.
Reducing the negative effects of divorce on children is often a complex task for parents and
social service professionals. Since, as discussed previously, divorce affects children in a variety
of ways, steps to reduce the negative impacts of divorce may need to be multi-faceted and
specifically tailored to the needs and life circumstances of the particular child. The more severely
children are affected, the more intense the intervention which is required, with some children
needing attention from trained psychologists or counsellors.