Double Standards In Divorce Law

The double standard in divorce law and the controversy surrounding divorce law reform reveal the complexity of gender relations and gender inequality in nineteenth century England. Even though the Royal Commission on Divorce and Matrimonial Causes was held to address some of these gender inequalities in addition to abolishing the jurisdiction the ecclesiastical courts on the matter of marriage and divorce, many of the double standards remained intact four years later when the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 was passed. Women were not granted equal rights in divorce until a bill was passed in 1923, shortly after women were granted the right to vote