The COVID crisis and resulting
lockdowns have strained Italian marriages with separation
requests up 60% between 2019 and 2020, the Italian association
of divorce lawyers said on Thursday.
Of these, 40% of requests are on the basis of alleged marital
infidelity, 30% for domestic violence and 30% due to other
causes, the group said.
"There is an evident stress brought on by the emergency," said
the lawyers.
They said the strain on conjugal relations had been exacerbated
by a sudden loss of work, and by other COVID-induced problems
such as the difficulties of children with distance learning.
"COVID is undermining marriages across the country," said the
association.
"Requests for separation have risen exponentially, due mainly to
enforced cohabitation, which is the source of all the main
problems that are hitting couples," association president Matteo
Santini told ANSA.
"It's one thing to share weekends and evenings and another to
share the whole day with all the problems stemming from the
health emergency: health stress due to the disease, lack of
work, living with children and their problems with distance
learning.
"All this leads to an emotional explosion that brings on a
desire to be free, and to separation requests".
Santini said that 40% of cases of separation were due to "the
difficulty unfaithful spouses have in hiding their double lives
when they are forced to live with their partners 24/7 in the
COVID crisis"
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