Abstract:
The issue of divorce is as old as human existence. Divorce affects children, women, and men
differ in terms of how they go through the process and how they deal with the aftermath.
Members of the same family can have very different experiences. A lot of divorcing families face
a slew of issues involving the family, particularly the children; Mothers are, in most situations,
the primary caregivers. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the causes
of divorce and the lives of divorced women in rural areas of Dembecha woreda. To address the
objective, the researcher uses a qualitative approach, ethnographic study design, and purposive
sampling technique. The methods of data collection were: - in-depth interview, key informant
interview, focus group discussion, and documents recorded in Dembecha woreda court office.
The collected data were analyzed thematically. The finding of this study showed that divorce has
different major causes in the study area such as - poverty, women taking family low as an
advantage, relatives and friends’ interference, inability to give birth, cheating, the existence of
stepchildren, and jealousy. Divorced women challenging economic, social, and psychological
problems, to cope with those problems, they used; land rent, local Areki extraction, bull power,
and daily labor. This can conclude as Divorce has different causes, it also becomes a serious
problem especially for women because they have social and cultural influence to leave out the
house and to care for children. Divorced women use different coping mechanisms but they do
have not enough options to cope and resist the situation. Finally, this study suggests some
implications such as, to escape the negative impacts of divorce, the habit of marriage
counselling should be enhanced; creating awareness to the local people about the family law
including the sharing of properties during a divorce is used to minimize the challenges of
women, no one is asking them to give any governmental or non-governmental support but by
seeing the seriousness of the problem, for example, giving a separate house, creating work
opportunities, and other supports to them is mandatory.