BAGHDAD

- As the pressures of daily life intensify, couples face complex tests that threaten the future of their relationship, and while some resort to the option of divorce and complete the resulting legal procedures, others choose the silent divorce solution.

Silent divorce constitutes an unofficial end to the marital relationship, as the marriage contract remains valid for everyone, but it is terminated between its two main pillars.

In Iraq, this phenomenon spread on a larger scale during the period of the domestic ban imposed as a result of the Corona outbreak, which had consequences on the organizational structure of the family.

Strangers under one roof

Housewife Hind Al-Saidi (pseudonym) says that she got married after a love story with one of her colleagues during university studies, and after graduating from university he proposed to her and then they married.

She added to Al Jazeera Net, "We lived the most beautiful days and were blessed with 3 daughters, but after 10 years the flame of love began to fade until the conversation between us became no more than matters related to the home, and gradually the language of dialogue disappeared, and feelings faded, so we became strangers under one roof."

In light of all this, Hind says that she thought about separation, but her concern for her daughters, in addition to the society's view of the divorced woman, prevented this. The arms of depression and anxiety, but she added, "Nevertheless, I hope that things will return to the right course."

Lawyer and civil activist Riad Al-Madden warned of the catastrophic effects on the spouses and children due to the silent divorce (Al-Jazeera Net)

Regarding the silent divorce, lawyer and civil activist Riad Al-Madden said that it is one of the worst forms of marital relations because it reveals a case of separation between the spouses that has not yet taken its official status.

He added that researchers believe that this situation is not new, as it exists in human societies in its modern form, but what is new in the matter is the transformation of this situation into a phenomenon and its expansion, especially in recent years, in a way that threatens society and destroys family relations.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Modon expressed his fear that the phenomenon of silent divorce would cause catastrophic effects on the spouses and children.

At a time when the personal status courts in Iraq document many divorce cases every month, tens of thousands of silent divorce cases are being generated in society at the same time for multiple and manifold reasons. Factors for its emergence and exacerbation, including reasons related to the spouses and external causes such as the political, security and economic conditions of society.

He added that the technological explosion that the world is witnessing in the field of communications around the globe and its transformation into a small village has allowed for the largest area of ​​friction and exchange in the life of mankind.

middle stage

Al-Modon completes his speech by saying that while some people consider silent divorce as an intermediate stage between marriage and divorce, since the spouses still live under one roof in a relationship that does not differ much from the relationship of employees, where an institution brings them together to perform certain tasks and duties in exchange for material gains. Another group considers the silent divorce more harmful than the official one, because the first causes one or both parties to live stuck between a reality that he rejects and tries to get rid of and a life he wishes and aspires to live.

The lawyer and civil activist believes that a number of restrictions may prevent the parties to a silent divorce from moving to another step and demarcating this step in a legal path, including social status, family relationships, children, society’s outlook, and psychological status, in addition to the financial burdens that result from actual divorce cases. Of the dowry and alimony and the back and so on.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Huda Al-Salman (a pseudonym) said, "Between me and my husband there is a barrier of silence and emotional coldness," noting that she basically married a traditional marriage and that the social and cultural difference was clear since the first months of marriage.

Huda, an employee, added that at first she overcame the matter, and then life went on until she entered into a cycle of problems and quarrels that increased after she discovered that her husband had a relationship with his co-worker until she confronted him with the matter, so he confessed and justified her that the matter was nothing more than a passing whim, except that It happened again, forcing her to stay away from him and she no longer wanted to continue with him.

Nadia confirms that she and her husband have become strangers, meeting only at the dining table sometimes, and at night her husband often stays outside and does not return home until late, leaving her with her young son, until the dispute between them increased and they reached the official divorce.

Shaima Al-Zaidi warned that a silent divorce may lead to a disturbance in the vital functions of both spouses (Al-Jazeera Net)

health effects

From a scientific point of view, a sociologist, Shaima Yousef Al-Zaidi, says that silent divorce directly affects the proportion of estrogen in the brain of women and men, and this affects the psychological state and mood of both, causing an increase in the level of serotonin, which is one of the neurohormones that directly affects the mood of a person. It could lead him to suicide.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Shaima warned that this phenomenon, whether it is caused socially or psychologically, may lead to a disturbance in the vital functions of both spouses and may lead to the commission of crimes, noting that the cases increased during the home ban that was imposed for long periods in the last two years due to the outbreak of Corona. .

Al-Zaidi says that the home ban imposed due to the Corona pandemic played a role in determining the relationship between the spouses, as their stay together all the time greatly affected the relationship, and if it was a good basis, the case would continue as well. worse.

She stressed that the statistics indicate an increase in cases of emotional separation between spouses, which led to the official divorce on a double, specifically in the period between July and October of 2021.

The sociologist put forward some solutions to curb the phenomenon of silent divorce and its spread, by recognizing that there is a problem, identifying its causes and trying to find a solution to it.

And she called for frankness and confrontation, instead of many couples resorting to silence.