Last week, Ghanaians were confronted with the news of a divorce petition by Mr Tony Lithur, an astute lawyer, seeking separation with his wife, Nana Oye Lithur, a renowned human rights lawyer and former Gender Minister.
The shocking news was compounded by the revelations and claims in the leaked petition, filed at the Divorce and Matrimonial Division of the High Court, Accra.
It opened a sour public discourse about their marriage of 27 years and personalities, following which Mr. Lithur issued a statement calling on the public to respect their privacy.
Generally, divorce and separation are stressful times for everyone, particularly when children are involved.
Often, partners experience a range of emotions which include a sense of loss, grief, pain, anger and failure. Courtrooms only prolong such difficult times.
But are there any other options available for the couple to settle the matter devoid all this pain and social media intrusion? Marital mediation could be having been crucial for such cases of high emotionality and trust.
Marital Mediation or Family Mediation helps to reduce the stress, avoid confrontations, costs and duration of such a difficult period.
The case of the Lithurs exemplifies the adversarial divorce processes that confront thousands of couples who attempt separation using the courts.
Family/marital mediation could have saved the Lithurs from the public intrusion in their private affairs.
Like many, the Lithurs still have a chance to resort to family mediation to handle their separation.
Because, as acknowledged, disputing partners may have reached a point where they cannot agree on issues concerning their property, children, or money. They may even not be able to talk to each other at all.
Unlike the divorce court, family/marital mediators help the partners to sort out these issues amicably without going to court. Once they are able to resolve their differences, they would save time, money and a whole lot of stress.
For divorcees who have used mediators, they found that mediation allows the two sides to get through the divorce process with less conflict than is normally experienced in an adversarial divorce process in the courts, and a cordial relationship can still exist even after the process.
By Edmund Mingle/adrdaily.com
