Divorce from Arranged Marriages: An Exploration of Lived Experiences

ABSTRACT: Divorce in virtually every culture is a private affair and thus not easily discussed in public. In the Arabian Gulf, because of the shame associated with deep religious, traditional, and gendered views of marriage, divorce is extremely secretive and has therefore been rarely studied. This article explores the lived experiences of 21 Arab Muslims from the United Arab Emirates who were in traditional arranged marriages and have divorced. Ten Emirati women and 11 Emirati men were interviewed using phenomenology to guide an inductive exploration. Nine themes emerged from the interviews. Five were shared across genders and 2 themes were specific to 1 gender. The first 4 might be called universal themes as they show up consistently in literature from both the East and the West. The rest appear to be more culturally specific.