Saturday, November 1, 2014

Gender Equality and Divorce

I think it is significant that alimony is rarest in countries with the highest rates of gender equality. Scandinavia is always at the top of the list when it comes to gender equality. Alimony (or spousal maintenance) is also quite rare for these countries. For example The Wikipedia article on divorce in Sweden states:
The fundamental idea is that divorce effectively severs all forms of economic relations between spouses. Each spouse is therefore individually responsible for his or her own financial support after divorce. Maintenance is seldom granted except in certain circumstances. It must be shown that the spouse is financially needy and that the marriage has resulted in the need for maintenance.
Now, one can always argue that alimony is rare in Sweden because of gender equality but I think that is a stretch. A judicial system that encourages and rewards unethical and criminal behavior will never lead to equality. If this site has shown anything it is just how poorly our laws are written, how arbitrary justice is, and how prevalent criminal activity is within the divorce system.   

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