The Analysis Of Divorce Rate In Egypt

Is it more preferable to take the easy way out? It’s believed that in the failure of saving a marriage, most couples get a divorce and choose to break a family rather than take the hard way of trying to actually fix the marriage and overcome the obstacles. However, in some cases divorce is never the “easy” way out, but sometimes it is the only solution to end a hopeless, toxic, and unbearable relationship. In the article entitled “On Marriage and Divorce in Egypt” written by Lolwa Reda, the author mentioned how the concept of marriage in Egypt is dying, and how the rate of divorce is constantly increasing. The writer presented plenty of statistics showing how the number of divorces in Egypt through the past years has been massively increasing in no time, and mentioned some reasons behind divorce including early marriage, domestic abuse, and polygamy. She stated some solutions and awareness programs that the government has been trying to provide which could help decrease the divorce rate in Egypt. I do agree with the writer’s argument as I have personally observed and experienced many divorces around me, whether they were a couple that I personally knew or just stories about people who have ended their marriage.

Firstly, I think that marriage in Egypt has become taken for granted and people no longer feel that saving their marriage is worth it. People find it better to file for a divorce and break their marriage rather than break themselves in the process of trying to fix the marriage. According to an article written on Ahram Online by Gamal Essam El-Din stated by Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali, the divorce percentage in Egypt has increased by 86% over the last decade. Thus, I noticed most of the parents I know are divorced, which makes me feel confused and frustrated, and makes me question the whole institution of marriage and why is it that hard to save it. I also kind of lost faith in the idea of marriage as I have seen people who were very in love one day, end up divorced, and I have come to believe that almost all marriages are doomed to fail. In addition, I came across a divorce case of a couple who were my best friend’s parents. They were very happy at first, but then they started constantly mistreating each other and their marriage started to suffer from lack of communication, verbal abuse, and disrespect. The main reason of conflict between them was about who should do the home chores, take care of the kids, and work, which I believe should have been discussed and organized right from the start. The situation was so messed up that they couldn’t save their marriage because none of them would admit they were wrong, they were both passive aggressive, wouldn’t communicate their feelings, and they would constantly blame each other for everything, so they had to end it up and eventually got divorced. I believe this divorce has definitely affected my friend psychologically, which also had its impact on me. When it happened, I asked her how she felt about it, and she told me she felt alone, indignant, and depressed. I could see that she was suffering and that she has not become herself anymore. She started becoming distant, but I tried to do my best to cheer her up, support her and let her know that she does not have to go through it all by herself, and I made sure she knows I’m always available for her to talk her heart out whenever she needs. After months of ache, she eventually got better and moved on a little, so imagine how many children are psychologically damaged in Egypt if the rate of divorce is that high. However, this experience somehow gave my friend and I the strength to overcome future disappointments, as we have already experienced a major one. Furthermore, I feel the concept of respect for the bond of marriage and respect for your spouse and partner in life is almost no existent anymore. Most married couples in Egypt only care for each other at the beginning of the marriage when things are all simple and not complicated, and just when things start to get serious, they chicken out. They start to change, start losing interest in each other, and might even start seeking the feeling of excitement and happiness that they felt at the beginning of their marriage, but with someone new.

Secondly, I believe there are several reasons for the massively increasing rate of failed marriages and divorces in Egypt. One of the reasons is arranged marriages. In Egypt, most women fear that they will be called a spinster if they do not get married before at least turning 40, that is why they get married to someone they do not know well nor love at an early age. As a result, most arranged marriages obviously end with a divorce, because it is not normal for people who do not know each other’s’ personalities nor share common interests or feelings towards each other to suddenly live happily under the same roof. A recent research from Alliant International University in California mentioned that women who choose who they want to marry experience greater levels of happiness and satisfaction in their marriage and are less likely to experience domestic violence than those in arranged marriages, which brings us to another major reason behind divorce in Egypt. According to The Egypt Demographic and Health Survey 2014 conducted by the Ministry of Health and Population, 30 percent of Egyptian women are subject to domestic violence. The report clarifies that 25.2 percent of women are victims of physical abuse caused by their husbands, 18.8 percent suffer psychological violence, and 4.1 percent suffer from sexual violence from their spouses. I guess It goes without saying that violence between married couples whether physical or verbal will usually end up with a divorce, even if it has been tolerated for some time by one of the partners. Furthermore, a professor of sociology named Zakariya clarified that domestic violence is one of the main causes of divorce in Egypt. In an article written by a reporter in The Daily News Egypt, a woman named Maysa Mahmoud talked about her personal experience with domestic abuse which caused her divorce. She mentioned that after one year of marriage, her husband began to slap her, which was very shocking to her as they were in love for four years before marriage. She added that she talked to him about this but he still repeated it so she got divorced as she realized this would have impacted their children’s behaviors in the future. In addition, with the increased awareness of feminism, women have become more powerful and independent. They no longer allow their husbands to humiliate them or hurt them in any kind of way, which has somehow contributed in the increasing rate of divorce in Egypt. Nourhan Saad, A journalist on feminism topics in The Daily News Egypt, stated that women have become stronger after being welcomed and encouraged in the Egyptian society to work and help in developing it, which resulted in them having the thought that marriage is not a huge deal and that women can make it as single mothers who can perfectly raise their children. Sadly, women in Egypt tend to marry men whom they do not know quite well just because of how the society is and how it views women’s role in life which is to get married, settle, and have children. A famous Egyptian proverb is “better a man’s shadow than that of a wall” which literally states that women should just get married to any man rather than stay alone. This is one of the main reasons why the divorce rate is so high in Egypt, because the society gives women false expectations and high hopes about marriage and encourages them to marry strangers. Women later on get shocked on how irresponsible, lazy, insensitive, aggressive, and non-appreciating their husbands turned out to be after a year or more of marriage, which is because they never really got to know them before.

In conclusion, the divorce rate in Egypt is too high due to many factors and wrong beliefs about how marriage should be, including arranged marriages, domestic violence, and female empowerment. I believe more awareness campaigns need to be done in Egypt, especially for the youth, to know what to expect and how to lead a happy marriage. People should understand that marriage is a lifetime partnership, not ownership, and that before committing to a relationship, one must be certain that this person is suitable for them and that they are ready to spend the rest of their lives with them. Based on my experiences and what I have learned about broken marriages, I will make sure that before I decide to marry someone, I will get to know them quite well first. I’ll take enough time to understand them, decide whether we see eye to eye on most things, learn how to compromise, understand and respect their flaws, feelings, emotions, likes and dislikes, and to accept that people are different.