Rep. suggests the abuser to have a “change of heart”
Mississippi State Capitol, Jackson, Mississippi by Ken Lund
Senate Bill 2703 which would have made domestic abuse the 13th ground for divorce in Mississippi has been rejected by State House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Andy Gipson. Gipson urged instead for “policies that strengthen marriage.”
“If a person is abusive, they need to have a change in behavior and change of heart,” said Gipson who also said that inhumane treatment is already a grounds for divorce.
Sandy Middleton, executive director of the Center for Violence Prevention in Mississippi told Mississippi Today that inhumane treatment is often difficult to prove and requires a witness, resulting in children having to take the stand and testify against a parent.
In some cases, when abuse victims have filed for divorce and have criminal charges against their abuser, judges dismiss the criminal charges believing the victim wants to use the criminal charges as leverage in the divorce.
Middleton encouraged lawmakers to “sit down with victims who are struggling not just with divorce but with living their lives. I think it would shed some light on the seriousness of this issue.”
In Thailand, domestic abuse is considered as grounds for divorce. According to Thailand divorce law, a partner can file for divorce when “One spouse has physically or mentally harmed the other”.
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