Divorcees estimated at 1.5m – report

By Salwa Samir-The Gazette online Tuesday, December 28, 2010 02:52:55 PM CAIRO - The number of divorced women in Egypt has reached 1.5 million, according to an official report released Monday by the State-run Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS).
The CAPMAS said that the report was timely and bound to strike a chord in Egypt, where the number of divorces is on the rise, despite the value placed on marriage and the stigma of separation. "The number of divorced women has risen sharply, with women marrying very quickly, whether from love, parental pressure or because they fear ending up as spinsters, and that can quickly lead to divorce," the report said. Earlier, Government figures show that every six minutes a couple separates in Egypt, a country where the population is more than 82 million. Meanwhile, another report prepared by the CARE Association has warned that divorce has become too common in today’s Egypt due to a variety of reasons.It explained that the reasons leading to divorce are: Infidelity, emotional abuse, physical abuse,difficulty in communicating and financial difficulties. It said that women paid a dear price after the divorce as they became subjected to physical and emotional traumas. "Symptoms of anxiety, depression and other emotional problems hit women after the divorce," it added. The main and direct psychological impact of divorce on women is depression, weeping fits, weight-gain, a loss of concentration and hope in the future, lack in enthusiasm and motivation, a lack of sleep and feelings of guilt and insecurity, the report said.