New divorce act protects wives

By PHOEBE GWANGILO
AN amendment to the Divorce Act stipulates that 50 per cent of savings or assets will be given to the spouse if there is any evidence of extra-marital affairs, according to the Law Reforms Commission.
Chairman Dr Eric Kwa said: “We have amended the Divorce Act to give equal rights to the mother when there is divorce”.
Kwa, pictured, told the two-day law and justice stakeholder consultations yesterday in Port Moresby it was one of other amendments to protect wives and children especially. “If the husband bought the house under his name, under the Land Act, the property is registered under the name of the father. So when he decides to divorce, the wife will have 50 per cent equal rights to the property,” he said.
“She will have the 50 per cent equal right although she is not working.
“Under the Family Protection Act, if the father decides to have a second wife, he must leave the house.
“He cannot chase the mother and the children out.
“So that’s what we are trying to do. We want to protect the mother and the children.
“We strengthen the provisions to maintenance so the father continues paying rent to the house his children and their mother are living in.
“We have to think of some of the innovative measures to protect the family. So those are some of the ideas that we are looking at.”
The two-day meeting is inform stakeholders in the law and justice sector on the progress on family violence and gender-based violence.