The ‘Failure’ of Marriage or the Success of Autonomy? : Rethinking Divorce beyond Stigma

Divorce in India continues to be read primarily as a sign of moral decline and the “failure” of marriage. This article advances the opposite claim: the growing visibility of divorce is a marker of autonomy, especially for women resisting coercive conjugality. Building on insights from feminist legal thought, critiques of caste, and empirical studies, this article reinterprets divorce not as a social disorder but as a legitimate pathway out of unequal marriages. Evidence from the National Family Health Survey–5 (2019–21) underscores the persistence of intimate partner violence, while key Supreme Court decisions—Shayara Bano v Union of India (2017), Joseph Shine v Union of India (2018), and Shafin Jahan v Asokan (2018)—reflect a growing judicial recognition of dignity, liberty, and individual choice in intimate relationships. The discussion situates divorce within the broader frameworks of patriarchy, caste endogamy, and state regulation, showing that stigma often stems from anxieties that personal autonomy may weaken collective control. Women’s decisions to leave marriages—whether in cases of domestic abuse, inter-caste relationships, or abandonment in transnational contexts—thus emerge as political acts of resistance. Yet, the absence of a marital property regime and the fragmented nature of maintenance provisions continue to weaken women’s claims to substantive equality. The insight therefore argues for a reframing of divorce as an expression of empowerment rather than a symptom of decay, calling for reforms that ensure predictability, security, and dignity in marital dissolution. By placing autonomy at the heart of family law, it urges a new understanding of marriage founded on reciprocity and care, rather than endurance as the sole measure of its worth.