That was the era when people in their entire years went for only one marriage after due deliberation and courtship to ensure that they were getting into the kind of relationship they wanted. There were no second chances. No wonder, marriage was a huge occasion celebrated joyously and the wedding day was looked back over the years with nostalgia.

Now, things have totally changed. Marriage has lost its sanctity and has begun to be taken casually. It is common for people to marry two or three times in their lives. Celebrities from the movie and fashion industry have turned changing partners after marriage into an art form. Some of their relationships last for a mere number of days before the news comes that the couple is heading for a split.

There are many reasons for this. For centuries, societies were ruled by a consensus based on traditions, culture and customs that was clad in iron. It defined social behaviour that was acceptable and what was not. Everybody living in the country conformed to it or faced the consequences, such as ostracism and being relegated to the fringes of the society as freaks. People lost respect and status overnight if they dared to go against the social consensus.

Today, this consensus has broken down because of a paradigm shift in how the society operates. Individual rights have now become more important than what the society expects from a person. People no longer frown upon someone going against the consensus. It is recognized that punks and hippies have a right to exist and live life their own way as much as any other person.

Because of women’s liberation in the last four decades, rise of individualism and growing wealth of common people, today’s social consensus has declared divorce as acceptable behaviour. It is no longer frowned upon and getting married many times in a lifetime is considered usual and normal. As a result, divorce rate has shot up. In some countries in the West, divorce cases being filed every year already number over half the marriages that are being solemnised! Divorce rate has climbed to unheard of proportions not witnessed any other time in history.

There is another factor that has modified the social consensus – people are travelling more and settling in other countries not their own. We can today travel faster and quicker than any other time in history. Internet and TV have brought images of the world right into our homes. It is common for people today to travel and see the world. Quite a few of them settle down in other countries, have affairs, marry and settle in the adopted land with their spouse. Inter-continental affairs bloom online in chat rooms and are continued over emails. Frequent travelling to other countries and easy and cheap ways of keeping in touch have seen a large spurt in cross-country marriages.

In the UK, it is common for citizens to marry people from across the Channel or Atlantic. Today, one in five European divorces is between people from different EU countries! It is as if national borders in Europe have become irrelevant as far as marital relationships are concerned. Getting married in any country in Europe is not a problem. But what happens when one wants to divorce? This can be a bit of a pain as each country in Europe has own unique laws regarding divorce. The procedures followed in courts are different. Countries have varying waiting periods for allowing a divorce to be filed after marriage. The legal procedures vary in complexity. There is no uniformity across Europe in divorce laws.

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