The institution of marriage has not crumbled

Many were the doom and gloom scenarios that had been painted by anti-divorce campaigners back in those contentious days of 2011 when the divorce referendum campaign was in full swing. Society would crumble, some said, the institution of marriage as we know it would cease to exist.

Obviously, none of that came to pass. What actually did come to pass was a true milestone for civil rights in Malta.

The introduction of divorce was a watershed moment and it was the launch pad of so many other progressions in civil rights that the country has seen since - from the legislation of gay, in the form of civil unions, and transgender rights to the new decriminalisation of simple drug possession. In so many ways the divorce referendum, the ensuing parliamentary vote on the divorce bill, and the introduction of that civil right beat the path for the civil liberties that have been introduced since and for those still to come.

It seems that Maltese society has matured by leaps and bounds since the great divorce debate and perhaps Malta as a whole has by and large become more accepting of civil liberties issues than it once was. Such societal

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changes usually take a long time to take root, but they have found have found fertile soil over the last few years.

But far from the doomsday forecasts, the institution of marriage is still strong, and it is perhaps even stronger with the introduction of divorce legislation.

This publishing house had publicly backed the introduction of divorce when the people came to vote on the subject in May 2011. And the people gave the long-absent civil liberty a resounding nod of approval when they voted 53% to 47% for its introduction.

And since its introduction, the country has not seen the collapse of the institution. In fact, according to figures published by the National Statistics Office last week there were a total of 1,516 divorces in Malta between October 2011 and the end of 2015 – an average of about 370 per year. And the numbers of annulments have also dropped more or less in tandem with the introduction of divorce.

But, in essence, it is not really the numbers that matter, it is the concept. Yes, just over 1,500 couples have availed themselves of the option to divorce, meaning that around 3,000 people are no longer forever chained to a loveless and expired relationship. That amounts to roughly one per cent of the electorate.

With about 65% of over 20s in Malta being married, according to figures published by the EU, that would mean that just 1.5-2% of married people, as a rough estimate, have sought a divorce since its introduction.

The institution of marriage has clearly not crumbled as a result of the introduction of divorce.

In fact, it shows that the vast majority of people who have married have stuck to their vows and have not opted for divorce simply because it is available. That shows that the institution is still very much a strong one and that people are not rushing in their hoards to file for divorce, as had been predicted by some back in 2011, simply because it is available.

But again, it’s not about the numbers. What it is about is the fact that the right to divorce, the right to allow people who need a fresh start in life to have one, has been introduced. That is a right that people deserve, it is one that they now have, and it is a right that people are clearly not making use of whimsically.