Wives Are Cheating 40% More Than They Used to, but Still Half as Much as Men

Wives Are Cheating 40% More Than They Used to, but Still Half as Much as Men

According to recent data from the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey, American wives were nearly 40 percent more likely to be cheating on their spouses in 2010 than in 1990. The number of husbands reporting infidelity, meanwhile, stayed constant at 21 percent. Could women soon be catching up with male indiscretions in the world of infidelity? Yanyi Djamba, director of the AUM Center for Demographic Research, certainly seems to think so, telling Bloomberg that "the gender gap is closing" and explaining that men have been more likely to blame adultery on an unhappy marriage.
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What could be driving the rise of female cheating? Explanations abound, ranging from women's increased economic independence over the past several decades (women "can afford the potential consequences of an affair, with higher incomes and more job prospects," argued one sociologist) to  cultural shifts to the Internet (including but not limited to dating and extramarital meetup sites). The user data for one such service, Ashley Madison, more or less confirms the data, at least in terms of age brackets:

The ratio of males to females is greatest among users older than 65, with 14 men for every woman. The ratio is 4-to-1 among users in their 50s, 3-to-1 for spouses in their 40s, and evenly divided among people using Ashley Madison in their 30s.

But there's no word on whether or not the NORC survey contains data on same-sex marriages — which, of course, did not exist in the '80s — and how the patterns may change as more and more gay couples are legally able to <strike>commit adultery</strike> get married. What we do know is that executives and managers are more likely to cheat than any other career, supporting the notion that wealth and power plays a role in encouraging infidelity — but then was that ever really in doubt?

http://news.yahoo.com/wives-cheating-40-more-used-still-half-much-193141903.html

NGO questions rise in cases of cruelty

NGO questions rise in cases of cruelty

Raising concern over the rise in cases of cruelty in West Bengal against women by their husbands or relatives but low rates of conviction, a non-government organisation has approached both the State government and the State Human Rights Commission. 

According to the statistics revealed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) last month or the year 2012, the number of cases registered under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the State was 19,885 — about 18.6 per cent of those recorded in the country, which totalled about 1.06 lakh cases. 

Referring to the NCRB data, members of the city-based NGO “Hridaya,” pointed out that while conviction in the rest of the country in cases registered under the Section was 15 per cent, it stood around 4.4 per cent in West Bengal. 

“This begs the question whether or not most of these cases were registered by the women with the motive of falsely implicating their spouses and his relatives?” Amit Gupta, secretary, Hridaya. 

The NCRB data over the past three years points out that conviction of cases registered under Section 498A varies between four and six per cent while the number of cases has increased by 11 per cent from 2010 to 2012. 

West Bengal registered 30,984 cases of crime against women in 2012 — the highest in the country — of which 64 per cent were registered under Section 498A of the IPC, Mr. Gupta pointed out. 

“Our objective is to spread awareness about the high number of cases registered for cruelty against women by their spouses and relatives. The law enforcement agencies should have specific guidelines to register cases under this section as majority of the cases are not ending in conviction,” he added.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/ngo-questions-rise-in-cases-of-cruelty/article4875713.ece 

India’s 498a Law – The Abuse Continues

 India’s 498a Law – The Abuse Continues 

In a landmark decision in 2010, Preeti Gupta v. State of Jharkhand, the Supreme Court of India lambasted the prevalent abuse of the infamous Section 498a of the Indian Penal Code law demanded that the legislature should change the law and directed that a copy of its decision be sent to the Law Commission of Indian the hope that the legislation might be amended.

The Law Commission issued a report in August 2012, calling for quite modest changes in the law. However, even those changes have not yet been enacted.

In Gupta the Supreme Court demanded that lower courts intervene to prevent the rampant consequential abuse of process, which has “led to enormous social unrest affecting peace, harmony and happiness of the society”; ruled that “most” 498a cases are filed in the heat of the moment over trivial issues without proper deliberations; asserted that many such cases are not bona fide, that many are filed with an oblique motive, and that many are filled with exaggerated or false claims; explained that these cases “can lead to insurmountable harassment, agony and pain to the accused and to his close relations” and “immense sufferings for all concerned;” and stated further that an ultimate acquittal may “not be able to wipe out the deep scars of suffering of ignominy.”

Meanwhile the abusive conduct continues. The Law Commission reported that in 2010 there were at least 340,555 cases under Section 498-A that were pending trial in various courts towards the end of 2010 and that there were as many as 938,809 people who were implicated in these cases. The reason that there were almost three times as many people accused as there were cases is that the law expressly authorizes a wife (but not a husband) to ask the police to bring charges against all of the relatives of her husband who may have participated in the alleged acts of cruelty.

We have commented previously on this law, that was well-intentioned in its enactment but which is frequently misused in India as a means of blackmailing non-resident Indian husbands. http://www.international-divorce.com/Indias-Notorious-Section-498A.htm.

http://www.internationalfamilylawfirm.com/2013/06/indias-498a-law-abuse-continues.html 

Govt wants judges fined for frequent adjournments

Govt wants judges fined for frequent adjournments

NEW DELHI: The government has suggested that higher judiciary impose fines on judges for allowing frequent and too many adjournments, a move which can potentially ensure swift punishment for those guilty of heinous crimes, early release of undertrials who may be found innocent as well as respite for those who have been embroiled in interminably long litigation over civil disputes.

The government has been holding consultations with the Supreme Court to urge the latter to ensure that the amendment made under Section 309 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which capped the adjournments permissible in a case at three, are implemented. It suggested that the higher judiciary consider imposing fines on judges infringing the three adjournment ceiling.

In fact, in cases of heinous crimes like rape, the amended Section 309 of CrPC lays down a timeframe of two months for the completion of inquiry as well as trial.

Sources said the law ministry has held several rounds of consultations with the apex court, and expressed satisfaction with the response it received to the proposal for strict enforcement of Section 309 of CrPC, limiting the number of adjournments before the subordinate judiciary.

The apex court too has in a number of recent judgments frowned upon the trend among subordinate judiciary to allow frequent adjournments: something which has been identified as one of the main factors behind the huge pendency of cases. The government is hopeful that SC may take steps shortly to ensure that the guidelines under the amended Section 309 are no longer disregarded by judges.

Section 309 of CrPC provides that "every inquiry or trial shall be held as expeditiously as possible and the recording of examination of witnesses shall be continued on day-to-day basis unless the court finds the adjournment of the same beyond the following day to be necessary for reasons to be recorded".

The government later incorporated some more guidelines relating to adjournments which specified that "no adjournment shall be granted at the request of a party, except where the circumstances are beyond the control of that party and even in cases where the pleader of a party is engaged in another court, shall not be a ground for adjournment".

The other important guideline said if a "witness is present in court but a party or his pleader is not present or the party or his pleader though present in court is not ready to examine or cross-examine the witness, the court may, if it thinks fit, record the statement of the witness and pass such orders as it thinks fit". Sources said some of these guidelines may be notified soon so that it becomes compulsory for the subordinate judiciary to enforce them.

Already, the law ministry has drawn up a list of other important amendments carried out in CrPC in the recent past but which are not being enforced by the lower judiciary.

For instance, a new Section 436A has been inserted, which provides that "if an accused has spent half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for that offence, not being an offence for which the death punishment has been specified as one of the punishment, he shall be released by the court on his personal bond with or without sureties".

Another amendment in Section 437 of CrPC provides that "if the accused had been previously convicted on two or more occasions of a cognizable offence punishable with imprisonment for three years or more but not less than seven years, such person shall not be granted bail". http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Govt-wants-judges-fined-for-frequent-adjournments/articleshow/20825760.cms 

Controversy in National Commission for women

Controversy in National Commission for women