Tilting the Scales in Favour of Women

by: jameswalsh
Total views: 47
Word Count: 688

There is without doubt the tendency to be biased in favour of women especially in the case of divorce judgements.

While the bias in favour of women may not be an overtly stated rule it does exist as an unwritten and unspoken tendency. There is the automatic reaction to look at women as the wronged party in the event of a divorce. This is perhaps a legacy from the days of yore when women were so dependent on their spouses that in the rare event of a divorce they had nowhere to go or no way to fend for themselves. Though the current scenario has changed with both men and women having equally successful careers, the law does look upon women as the helpless party in a divorce case.

Modern Women, Old Fashioned Judgements

Women today have come a long way and more often than not, are equal partners in a marriage in every possible manner. They contribute financially and make joint decisions about every aspect of their marital lives. This being the case, when things go wrong and a couple decide to part ways, one would imagine that they both had contributed equally to the failed relationship. There are of course exceptions when a man may have strayed or been abusive. However, one also hears of women being the unfaithful party or even being abusive. Considering this changed scenario, the legal opinion of women has not kept up with times and handles women with kid gloves in the case of divorce.

It is quite true that a man has to be only slightly at fault to be at the receiving end of a rather harsh divorce judgement. The women definitely benefit from a genteel treatment by the legal system and a woman has to have been way off track and proven to be solely and completely at fault not to benefit from a divorce judgement.

Women are Automatically Nominated as Custodians

Those were the days when the man was the bread winner and women looked after the home and children. Except in extremely traditional societies there is no such stereotype in today’s world. Since both men and women have independent careers, it requires both of them to multi-task and take-on different roles. While the automatic assumption is that children need their mother more when they are young, there are increasing instances where men are playing the same role with relative ease. In such cases it does seem a little harsh to automatically assume that children will be better off with their mother in the event of a divorce.

The dictates of law are still coloured by old prejudices against men as being incapable of bringing up children on their own. While circumstances vary and one cannot make a generalized statement about who would be the better parent to grant child custody to, the law does lean in favour of women as a norm.

The Short End of the Stick

It does seem a trifle unfair that a man can work really hard to build his assets and advance his career and then have to part with almost half of it in the event of a divorce. While the reasons for divorce can be several and there are usually two sides to a story, when it comes to divorce judgements, there seems to be only one story- a man having to cough up a lot of the capital he worked so hard to build.

There perhaps may be a few monetary responsibilities that a man might have to undertake when a woman has given up several years of her life to run a home. However, sometimes it does seem like the men get the short end of the stick by having to pay a far higher price than they should, to get divorced.

Conclusion

The fact of the matter is that women are the favoured ones when it comes to divorce judgements. It is true that perhaps without the protection of the legal system, women could be short changed and may suffer. However, equations are changing and women are not always the “victims” in a divorce and the law needs to take this change into consideration when making divorce judgements.

About the Author

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you would like more information on how to get a quickie Divorce see http://www.quickie-divorce.com

Comments

Add Comment