The rate of divorce or separation among married women in Kenya aged 15-49 has surged, new data shows, pointing to the fallouts related to economic pressure and cultural shifts.
Data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the proportion of married women between 15-49 years dipped to 48.1 percent in 2022, from 63.1 percent in 1989.
Over the same period, the proportion of women aged 15-49 who were divorced or separated grew from 4.6 percent in 1989 to 9.3 percent in 2022, says KNBS data.
Although KNBS does not list the causes of the fallout among couples, grounds for divorce in the country include adultery, cruelty to the spouse or children, desertion, infidelity, irretrievable breakdown of a marriage, imprisonment of more than seven years, venereal diseases, presumption of death and incurable insanity among others.
Analysts linked the enhanced divorce or separation to economic pressure and cultural changes that gave women greater liberty.
“Economic hardship and financial difficulty have played a significant role [in the rise in divorce cases]. In furtherance of that, why financial strain is one of the major factors can involve the gender role shifts, unemployment and underemployment, the rising cost of living, and increased urbanisation,” Eric Keli of Keli, Kamura and Machogu Advocates said.
“In addition, as it is not the only reason due to a number of other key drivers including delayed marriage and more cohabitation, influence by the digital era, shifts in culture, people becoming greater aware of their rights and legal reforms,” he added.
A few years back, getting a divorce was a tedious legal battle, partly due to strenuous manual court processes and made worse if parties were estranged.
Lawyers say divorce is getting easier owing to digitisation of the Judiciary systems with couple in agreement. The KNBS data shows that the proportion of women aged 15-49 who were divorced or separated in 1993 stood at 5.3 rising to 4.9 in 1998 and 5.9 in 2003. This rate grew to 6.1 in 2008, 7.7 in 2014, and 9.3 in 2022.
“In 1989, about two-thirds (63.1 percent) of women aged 15-49 were married. This proportion has declined steadily over the years to a low of 48.1 per cent in 2022,” said KNBS.
“Over the same period, the proportion of women aged 15-49 who were divorced or separated grew from 4.6 per cent in 1989 to 9.3 per cent in 2022.”
For divorces, a party must file a divorce case at the Resident Magistrates Court and after proving the marriage has irretrievably broken down, the court issues a certificate of divorce.
A certified copy of the certificate is then forwarded to the Registrar of Marriages for registration. The Registrar of Marriages then enters the details into a divorce register.
