\nRead more<\/h2>\n<\/aside>\n But here in Niger, a place where women have less education, lower living standards and less equality with men than just about anywhere else in the world, a quiet revolution is playing out.\u00a0<\/span>Many women like Amadou come to this sidewalk court every month to push for a divorce, frustrated not only by their husbands\u2019 inability to earn a living during a time of economic hardship, but also because their basic views on relationships have changed.<\/span><\/p>\nThey want to choose whom and when to marry, not be pushed into marriages. They demand respect and, better yet, love. And when their husbands fall short, women are the ones driving this new culture of breakups.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cYoung women now go into marriages with certain expectations,\u201d says Alou Hama Maiga, secretary general of the Islamic Association of Niger. \u201cIf these expectations are not met at some point, then divorce is inevitable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe Islamic judge who presides over the street-side religious court in Maradi, Niger\u2019s third-largest city, says that divorces initiated by women have\u00a0doubled in the past three years, with nearly 50 women a month coming to end their marriages.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThese young women don\u2019t want to suffer any more,\u201d says the judge, Alkali Laouali Isma\u00ebl. \u201cThere is a solution to their problems, and they know they can find it here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nLawyers, women\u2019s associations, local officials and academics who study the region say the increase is happening across West Africa \u2013\u00a0in urban and rural, as well as Muslim and Christian, areas \u2013\u00a0as women assert more control over their relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The total divorce rate is relatively stable or even declining slightly in some parts of West Africa, they note, but underneath that are huge changes in divorce patterns and society at large.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\nYoung women now go into marriages with certain expectations. If these expectations are not met at some point, then divorce is inevitable<\/blockquote>\n Alou Hama Maiga, Islamic Association of NigerWomen are more educated now and in some areas marry later in life, factors that academics say lead to more stable marriages. At the same time, more women are moving into cities and joining the workforce, empowering more of them to discard bad marriages.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Dakar\u2019s Association of Female Lawyers says it now helps\u00a0three times as many female clients seeking divorce as it did even just four years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cMany women in Dakar are independent and have jobs and have money,\u201d says Daouda Ka, a lawyer who handles divorce cases. \u201cIn the past, they were just tolerating bad marriages. Now, if it doesn\u2019t work out, they leave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nIn Ghana, 73 per cent of divorce cases handled by the Legal Aid Scheme of Greater Accra were filed by women in 2016\/17, a big shift from the past. Divorce, once considered taboo for conservative Christians, is being presented in some church<\/span>Amadou spent her childhood in Maradi, a busy city of small shops and open-air markets ringed by clusters of farming villages.\u00a0It was at a wedding that a friend played matchmaker for Amadou, pointing out a man twice her age, Noura Issa.\u00a0Amadou hadn\u2019t necessarily been looking for a husband. She was busy taking sewing classes that she had persuaded her family to pay for.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI wanted to be able to support myself,\u201d she says.\u00a0Still, when her friend called the next day to ask whether Issa could visit her, Amadou agreed.\u00a0The couple married and moved into his home outside the city centre. Soon after they were settled, Issa told her the sewing classes were a waste of money. He didn\u2019t want her leaving the house.\u00a0But his tailoring business was struggling. Nigeria\u2019s economic crisis had spread across the border to Maradi, a major trading centre\u00a0between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\nMany women in Dakar are independent and have jobs and have money. In the past, they were just tolerating bad marriages. Now, if it doesn\u2019t work out, they leave<\/blockquote>\n Daouda Ka, divorce lawyerAlready impoverished, Niger has been particularly hard hit by the spillover of problems from Nigeria, including nearly 10 years of war with Boko Haram, the radical Islamist group that has torn through the region.<\/p>\n
A few years ago, Issa was earning the equivalent of nearly \u00a311\u00a0a day, sewing and hemming clothes. Suddenly, he couldn\u2019t earn half that much.\u00a0\u201cHusbands can\u2019t support their wives the way they used to,\u201d says Isma\u00ebl, the religious judge.<\/p>\n
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The economic problems are compounded in Niger because polygamy is so common. Men in the mostly Muslim nation can have up to four wives. The country also has the highest birthrate in the world, with women in Niger giving birth to seven children on average.<\/p>\n
Isma\u00ebl says most of the women who come before his court seeking divorce cite financial problems.\u00a0Despite the changing mores, child marriage rates are among the highest in the world, and teenagers in Niger have more children than anywhere in the world, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n
Driving the early marriages is a fear that girls will shame their families by becoming pregnant before they wed.\u00a0\u201cA girl must be married to avoid being in trouble,\u201d says Laouali Oubandawaki Iro, the village chief of Giratawa, a town on the outskirts of Maradi, explaining the area\u2019s traditions. He is in his early 60s. Two of his wives are teenagers.\u00a0But the push to limit child marriage has helped shift attitudes. In recent years, aid groups have poured in to alleviate poverty and stem population growth by focusing on child and forced marriages. Local groups and Niger\u2019s government have joined in.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n\nRead more<\/h2>\n<\/aside>\n Amadou figured\u00a0that her case was clear-cut when she went to the sidewalk court.<\/p>\n
But the judge tells the couple to go home to try to work it out one more time. If they still want\u00a0a divorce, he tells them, come back in two days. After the hearing, Issa drops\u00a0his head, conceding that finances are tight and that he doesn\u2019t give Amadou all the little gifts she would like.\u00a0\u201cBut that wasn\u2019t in the marriage contract, to give her presents,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m tired of coming here,\u201d he huffs. \u201cI\u2019ve decided.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two days later, the couple arrive\u00a0at court from opposite sides of the street.\u00a0\u201cYou told us to come back if we couldn\u2019t work it out, so we\u2019re back,\u201d Issa says. \u201cNow what do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple go about the tedious process of publicly divvying up their belongings \u2013\u00a0salt, spices, plates, a pitcher used for washing before prayers. The judge says Amadou will have sole custody of their son until he is seven, and that Issa will pay for the child\u2019s meals for the next two years.<\/p>\n
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\u201cNo problem,\u201d Issa says.<\/p>\n
The couple sign\u00a0the divorce papers.\u00a0\u201cIs this good for you?\u201d says the judge, turning to Amadou. \u201cI think this is a relief for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nods, a wide smile spreading across her face.Amadou plans to marry again, to someone who loves her back.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0New York Times<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nSource link <\/a>