Males, females differ on Marriage Bill
The newly passed Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Bill has attracted contrasting views from a cross sections of Malawians, with most females welcoming the bill whereas the majority of men believe the bill is unreasonable on the male folk.
A random survey which Nation on Sunday conducted between Wednesday and Friday in Blantyre consulted 32 respondents. Out of the 32 people, 17 were male and 15 females.
Of the total number, 27 people (14 females and 13 men), all of them Christians, said they had read about the bill and were able to point out the positives and the weaknesses of the bill.
While most females expressed happiness that the Bill gives them powers to decide on what to do in their relations, most men faulted the Bill, arguing it is a fighting tool for women against them.
“The bill is derogatory and abusive, especially to males. It lacks balance on issues and sounds like it was being formulated by people who are angry and once divorced. It does not recognise democracy and human rights on decision- making issues to do with marriage and relationships,” said one male respondent.
Another male respondent thought that the bill is segregative, arguing that it will achieve the goal of protecting women.
“The bill will just create more marital challenges than they were already. I can see more court cases. It seems to be criminalising everything,” he said.
Of the 14 females sampled, 12 of them expressed happiness that the bill has put marriage age at 18 from 16 while out of the 13 men sampled, only three hailed it on the marriage age.
Some women were also of the view that the bill would help in reducing promiscuity among men because of penalties that are attached to it and that a woman can also file for divorce on grounds of adultery.
“Looking at the rising number of infections which are a result of mostly unfaithful and reckless living, I can say the Marriage Bill is welcome. I believe with its strict enforcement, it will serve as a watchdog thereby, minimising infections,” she said.
But one male respondent said men do not need a law to stop them from cheating because they can easily do so regardless of the bill.
Another male respondent questioned the rationale of excluding homosexuality in the Bill.
“Why is the bill not recognising same sex marriage? We live in a democratic country and more transformed world. To have feelings for a person of the same sex is natural and there is no way you can stop that, otherwise, it can be described as discrimination.
