Children's Commissioner makes her case against divorce

Children's Commissioner Helen d'Amato has insisted that children "have a right" to be informed of the effects of divorce.

In a meeting with anti-divorce lobby Zwieg Bla Divorzju, the former Nationalist MP warned against "extremism" in the usage of children in the divorce referendum campaign, but said they should be informed of the effects of the divorce. She was answering a question by MaltaToday on warning by the former head of social welfare services Joe Gerada that children were being dragged into the debate in a “simplistic manner”.

"Divorce is neither a solution for the suffering of children experiencing marital breakdown... nor will it turn all children into victims," D'Amato said.

Warning against "absolutism and simplistic arguments", D'Amato said children were also the most affected parties, alongside the spouses, in marital breakdown.

She underlined the importance of children being able to grow up in a stable family environment. She said it is an internationally recognised concept that children should benefit from a stable family. “Without a stability, there can be no happiness.”

She expressed concern at the potential backlash that would follow the introduction of divorce, emphasising that the State was already tasked with having to address the damage that separation is causing.

She cited studies by clinical psychologist Joan Kelly and Prof Robert Emery of the University of Virginia "showed children in their first family are at reduced risk from emotional trauma or even developing mental health complications than those living with second (reconstituted) families through cohabitation or remarriage."

Referring specifically to mental health, D’Amato said that while 10% of children coming from families without divorce are at risk of having mental health problems, children coming from families who have gone through the process of divorce face a 25% risk.

She however said that “I am not passing judgment on those who are opting to separate.”

She said that given how separation is already causing emotional damage to children, “the state should not give the option to adults to further undermine marital stability (through divorce). It can be a solution for adults in how they chose to live their lives, but will this help children?” she asked.

D’Amato indirectly referred to an argument tabled by the pro-divorce lobby that divorce would help the one-in-three children born outside wedlock. She said that many of the children were born to women who were never married, while others still were born to women aged under 18.

“We cannot say that divorce will help these children, as most of them are not being kept ‘outside’ wedlock by the lack of divorce,” she said. She conceded that some of the women might be unmarried because their partner is separated.

D’Amato also referred to studies which were conducted abroad, which she said “showed that in countries where there is divorce, marriage has grown down while cohabitation has gone up.”

In this, she reiterated one of the anti-divorce lobby’s long-time arguments – that the introduction of divorce would undermine the principle of a lasting marriage. She said that this is more significant in the case of children that are yet to be born.

She supported her argument by referring to an Italian soap Un Medico in Famiglia which tells the story of a young girl from a divorced marriage who is living in a second family while trying to reunite her biological parents. "Some children of divorced families will want to see their parents united despite the tensions".

Asked by MaltaToday whether the decrease in marriage and the increase in cohabitation abroad could be attributed to changing socio-economic values as opposed to the introduction of divorce, D’Amato questioned what came first. “Is it chicken or the egg?” she said, pointing to divorce as one of the factors that could have influenced socio-economic trends that led to fewer marriages and more cohabitation.

Zwieg bla Divorzju spokesperson Arthur Galea Salomone said the movement had opted to put children at the heart of its message – “those who have the least say in the matter, and far less possess the means to influence a decision which will affect them directly,” he said.

He cited the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child: "State Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.”

He hit out at the pro-divorce movement’s billboards which referred to children outside wedlock as “bgħula” (bastards) and questioned the ‘shock value’ justification. “I question what else they would resort to in order to impose divorce on a country that is recognising that it goes against national good.”

He said that because of this, the movement should sensitive the public as to what they are saying.

He however defended the lobby’s use of the term ‘divorce without reason (divorzju bla raġuni)" saying this is not a mis-translation of the definition ‘no fault divorce’ but a “true statement.”

He said that given how a spouse can decide to divorce from one moment to the next without a justifiable reason, or even while being at fault, the divorce is does not concern itself with who is at fault.

When asked how this differentiated from separation as it currently stands, which also does not require any ‘justification’ or ‘reason’, Galea Salomone was evasive.

Galea Salomone was also asked by the media whether the Zwieg Bla Divorzju lobby would take a position against the impending cohabitation legislation soon to be tabled in parliament. On whether the lobby would be for or against, Galea Salomone was non-committal. “We will see when the law is presented.”

He however said hat the movement will oppose any law that will give the rights of married couples to cohabiting couples. He however said the movement would support laws that would address ‘exploitation’ of cohabiting partners.

He also hit out at the pro-divorce movement’s billboards which referred to children outside wedlock as “bgħula” (bastards) and questioned the ‘shock value’ justification.

“I question what else they would resort to in order to impose divorce on a country that is recognising that it goes against national good.”