Cracks in the economy are showing up fissures at home, as more couples head to court and women to help lines over marital problems.
Figures from the Subordinate Courts and the Law Ministry’s Legal Aid Bureau indicate a rise in divorces and personal protection orders filed by wives against their husbands in at least six months.
In the first two months of this year, a total of 431 applications for personal protection orders were filed in court, 20 more than the same period last year.
In January alone, there were 243 such applications, the highest recorded in a single month over the last 14 months.
The average number of applications filed a month last year was 212.
Overall, last year’s figures remain comparable to previous years’ - hovering around 2,600 - though insiders predict it will likely inch further up this year due to the economic downturn.
Family lawyer Rajan Chettiar said the number of family cases he handles has already doubled this year. ‘In a recession, family financial problems get enhanced and blown up and turn into quarrels which can lead to violence - resulting in personal protection orders and maintenance claims in court.’
Underpinning the fall-out is usually a fragile relationship, made worse by money woes and financial irresponsibility, said Ms. Foo Siew Fong, head of the family department at Harry Elias Partnership.
According to her, the firm has been seeing more divorce cases since the downturn. ‘Usually, there is already unhappiness to begin with. It becomes worse when the future is not certain,’ she said.
It is not yet known how many divorces were filed since the slump began, but data for the last six months from the Legal Aid Bureau, a legal service provider for low-income groups, gave an unhappy indication. From December last year to last month, the bureau received 637 applications for aid from women seeking divorces. Between September and November last year, the number was 606.
The downturn has also upended the root cause of break-ups this year compared to previous years, said Ms. Foo. ‘In the last two years, the divorces I handled were mostly due to adultery. These times, it’s about money. Men can’t afford to fool around any more - literally.’
At the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), manager Kerry Wilcock said more women have come forward to seek help since January.
The number of counselling sessions for women facing marital problems doubled last month, she said, from 15 to 30 cases.
The number of calls for help received by Aware has also gone up by about 10 per cent. Some are women who have been physically threatened or hit by deadbeat husbands. Others need help making ends meet; some men, to tighten their belts in the recession, have stopped giving money to their wives altogether.
‘A lot of our new clients are women who put their problems on hold for a long time,’ said Ms. Wilcock. ‘Pinched wallets add a lot of stress to relationships.’
Some experts, however, said financial difficulty is just another stressor in what could already be an abusive relationship.
‘If a husband abuses his wife, it is usually not the first time,’ said Mrs. Seah Kheng Yeow, head of the family department and a senior social worker at the Centre for Promoting Alternatives to Violence. ‘Financial difficulty sometimes ends up being used as another trigger to escalate the abuse - from words, to a slap, then a punch.’
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Hard times make marital woes worse
Yan Feng
9 March 2009
Cracks in the economy are showing up fissures at home, as more couples head to court and women to help lines over marital problems.
Figures from the Subordinate Courts and the Law Ministry’s Legal Aid Bureau indicate a rise in divorces and personal protection orders filed by wives against their husbands in at least six months.
In the first two months of this year, a total of 431 applications for personal protection orders were filed in court, 20 more than the same period last year.
In January alone, there were 243 such applications, the highest recorded in a single month over the last 14 months.
The average number of applications filed a month last year was 212.
Overall, last year’s figures remain comparable to previous years’ - hovering around 2,600 - though insiders predict it will likely inch further up this year due to the economic downturn.
Family lawyer Rajan Chettiar said the number of family cases he handles has already doubled this year. ‘In a recession, family financial problems get enhanced and blown up and turn into quarrels which can lead to violence - resulting in personal protection orders and maintenance claims in court.’
Underpinning the fall-out is usually a fragile relationship, made worse by money woes and financial irresponsibility, said Ms. Foo Siew Fong, head of the family department at Harry Elias Partnership.
According to her, the firm has been seeing more divorce cases since the downturn. ‘Usually, there is already unhappiness to begin with. It becomes worse when the future is not certain,’ she said.
It is not yet known how many divorces were filed since the slump began, but data for the last six months from the Legal Aid Bureau, a legal service provider for low-income groups, gave an unhappy indication. From December last year to last month, the bureau received 637 applications for aid from women seeking divorces. Between September and November last year, the number was 606.
The downturn has also upended the root cause of break-ups this year compared to previous years, said Ms. Foo. ‘In the last two years, the divorces I handled were mostly due to adultery. These times, it’s about money. Men can’t afford to fool around any more - literally.’
At the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), manager Kerry Wilcock said more women have come forward to seek help since January.
The number of counselling sessions for women facing marital problems doubled last month, she said, from 15 to 30 cases.
The number of calls for help received by Aware has also gone up by about 10 per cent. Some are women who have been physically threatened or hit by deadbeat husbands. Others need help making ends meet; some men, to tighten their belts in the recession, have stopped giving money to their wives altogether.
‘A lot of our new clients are women who put their problems on hold for a long time,’ said Ms. Wilcock. ‘Pinched wallets add a lot of stress to relationships.’
Some experts, however, said financial difficulty is just another stressor in what could already be an abusive relationship.
‘If a husband abuses his wife, it is usually not the first time,’ said Mrs. Seah Kheng Yeow, head of the family department and a senior social worker at the Centre for Promoting Alternatives to Violence. ‘Financial difficulty sometimes ends up being used as another trigger to escalate the abuse - from words, to a slap, then a punch.’
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