Divorce rates dropped in Afghanistan: Supreme Court

KABUL (Tolonews): The Supreme Court expressed optimism over the reduction in divorce cases, saying that it has recorded 400 cases over the past three months across the country.

“In the past three months, all over the country in all courts of the country, only 400 cases of divorce have been filed, of which 220 have been upheld and 50 denied, the rest of the cases are being processed,” said deputy spokesman for the Supreme Court, Mawlawi Enayatullah.

Alias Marriam is has been married for more than 20 years but she now seeks to separate from her husband.

She cited family violence as the reason for her divorce.

“It has been 18 months that I have been going to the court. I made a statement for my divorce. We didn’t have a good life and we couldn’t live together,” she said.

This comes as lawyers said that the process of addressing divorce cases is slower compared to before.

“Cases in the Islamic Emirate’s courts are not as easy as it was in the past. They (courts) want to investigate and find the roots of the issue and its causes,” said Hibatullah Naqid, a lawyer.

This comes as some women’s rights activists called for fairness in addressing divorce cases.

Domestic violence and economic hardship are said to be the two main issues for the divorce cases in the country.