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Women in China speak out about divorce on social media as separation rates rise

Chinese single mother Cally Fan never imagined that posting about her divorce on social media would change her life in a positive way.To get more news about traditional chinese women, you can visit shine news official website.

"I just wanted to have a social media account to write about my own thoughts and feelings during the whole divorce process," Ms Fan said.

Betrayed by her ex-husband, the 35-year-old shared all her experiences — from finding a lawyer, to talking to her children about divorce, to convincing her conservative-minded parents.

"When I made the decision to divorce no-one supported me, including my own family," said Ms Fan.Two years after ending her 10-year marriage, Ms Fan is glad she made the change.

She has more than 15,000 followers on Chinese social media platform Red and has built a marriage counselling service on her rapidly rising popularity.

Ms Fan said she was trying to empower Chinese women to consider marriage sensibly, rather than "encourage women to get divorced".

Since she qualified as a counsellor and opened her business in 2022 she has provided services to more than 700 women.

"My initial intention was to help women through my own divorce experience, so that those women can feel that they are not alone, that there is someone who understands their difficulties and empathises with them."Divorce rates in the country peaked in 2019 then dropped slightly, but data from China's Ministry of Civil Affairs shows they are again on the rise.

More than 3 million couples divorced in the first nine months of 2022, according to the most recent figures.Compared to data for the same period the previous year, that number rose by about 200,000.
What are women sharing on social media?
Negative perceptions of divorced women in China can include that they are immoral, promiscuous, and have failed to keep a family together.But more women are now taking to social media to challenge those stigmas and shift the narrative.

Women are posting about their happy post-divorce lives, with some even referring to divorce certificates as "certificates of happiness".There are online discussions on ways to fight for custody of children, how to gather evidence on infidelity, and dealing with trauma.In response to the social media trend, some Chinese photographers have started doing "divorce photography", while wedding planners are providing services for "divorce ceremonies".For Delia Lin, associate professor of China studies at the University of Melbourne, seeing women sharing their experiences of divorce is "an excellent trend".

"That just shows that women are more comfortable with sharing some negative experiences, if you call it 'negative experiences', in a marriage," she said.