Omatsola, Temisan
Specialization: Study of Religion
Separated but Not Divorced : A Phenomenological Study of Six Separated Catholic Women in Nigeria
Separated Catholic women experience various peculiar challenges related to their marital status and faith. In this study, I draw further attention to their challenges, how they make sense of their marital status, and how they want their lives to go. This research uses a textual analysis tool based on the phenological study of six separated Catholic women in Nigeria. The objectives are related to the impact of Catholic beliefs on the respondents’ decision to separate instead of a formal divorce and examining the relationship between stigma and social exclusion in the respondents’ lives. The findings derived from the research included how Catholic faith and commitment influenced separation over divorce. This study highlights diverse understandings of the separated status among these women. On one hand, their adherence to Catholic principles significantly influences their decision to avoid divorce. On the other hand, the participants acknowledged that divorce might be a viable option under certain circumstances, such as a lack of love and support within the family. The research also revealed that these women possess a clear vision of the direction they want their lives to take. However, their experiences are marked by underlying frustration, driven in part by the fear of a progressive stigma associated with divorce. This stigma has led to inward social exclusion and outward manifestation of exclusion. The inward experiences are not directly observable.
However, the women’s responses illustrate how these internal struggles contribute to external forms of exclusion. Additionally, the study reviews how separated women navigate social exclusion and stigma through the Catholic support of their faith and by avoidance of difficult situations. I find these two means of navigation have the underlying passive exclusion and ostracism features, which I discuss in the study.
The importance of studying the lived experience of the group in this research illustrates being separated as a woman and a Catholic reveals different challenges than being divorced. It also sheds light on the complexity of stigma and social exclusion.