Divorced Under 30: The Egyptian Stories You Never Heard

In the past few years, rates of divorce keep increasing at a noticeably high rate in Egypt. The average age for men to be married has been reported to be between 25-30 years, whereas it has been estimated for it to be between 20-25 years for women. That sadly leads to a large number of divorcees under the age of 30.

With disregard of the reasons that could lead a couple to split up, going through a divorce before 30 is never a pleasant experience. There are many challenges one already faces during this period of their lives, and even though society is currently more considerate towards the topic, being single again is not as easy as it seems. I’ve asked a few Egyptian divorcées about how it is to be in their situation in our society, and here’s what they said.

“Once my marriage was coming to an end, I had no shame letting anyone know I was getting a divorce. It didn’t work out; I have nothing to be ashamed of or to hide. To my surprise, after I was officially solo, many of those who were around me (some I considered really good friends) have just tried to make a pass on me with a very condescending manner. I saw immediate change in the tone and attitude, with looks that never failed to deliver that ‘I’m approaching you only because I know you are divorced.’ Unfortunately, our society still judges a divorced woman!”

“Before we were married, we’ve had been dating for years. We planned out the rest of our lives. When you are young, you plan it all very vividly. After marriage we have both realized that we were growing apart but not wanting to face the fact. Yet still, having everything planned out with that significant other in consideration made splitting up very hard to deal with. We got a divorce and with it I had to rethink where life goes from here. It is a very heavy emotional roller coaster that needs much strength to get through.”

“I have been divorced for over two years now. My mother, a traditional lady that believes that divorce is an act of failure, have friends that still think until today that I am still married!”

“I bump into people that I haven’t seen in years. They ask how I’ve been doing and then ask how my wife is. I tell them that I think she’s doing well, I don’t know how she’s been really because we’ve split up. And this never fails to happen every time; I get a shocked face, the empathetic head tilt with the pat on the shoulder and the infamous question: ‘are you okay?'”

“I’m not living under a bridge, I just got a divorce! We were not happy together and we are probably better off this way. Why does it have to be so tragic ?”

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