When divorce is a good thing…
Jul 22nd, 2009 by admin
Yahoo News has this story about the plight of Afghan women with violent husbands, and the trend of these women seeking to end their marriage rather than end their life. 
The topic of divorce often evokes mixed feelings in America, but with 50% of marriages ending in divorce, divorce is far from the taboo that it is in Afghanistan. Even if ending one’s marriage is taboo, I have to say that divorce–rather than death–is a good thing.
Knowing how difficult it can be for folks in Washington who want to handle their own divorce (even with the internet and Family Court Services), I can only begin to imagine the challenge of figuring out how to successfully divorce in Afghanistan. Suraya Pakzad had this to say about the impact of her program: “When we brought the number of self-immolation cases down, automatically the number of divorces went up because women realized that they could not solve their problems by burning themselves.”
As Gary Larson illustrated: We might all be on the same planet, but sadly some of us live in different worlds. I’m glad to know that Ms. Pakzad is doing what she can to help Afghan women get out of their bad marriages alive.