marriage

Marriage is not a licence to control women's bodies says Fiji's women's group.

The group has criticised recent discussions during a consultation with the Minister for Health and Medical Services by concerned men about their wives and partners using contraceptives without their consent.

The Fiji Women's Rights Movement said women are not the property of their husbands.

It's encouraging family planning and as well as counselling.

Fiji has one of the highest rates of gender-based violence in the world, with more than 60-percent of Fijian women experiencing violence at least once in their lifetime.

     

Love and beauty in a refugee camp

In one camp in northern Iraq, beautician Rozhin Ahmed-Hussein - herself a Syrian Kurdish refugee - finds that she is rarely short of work.

"Most of the people in the camp are poor, and Syrian refugees like me, so when I do a beautiful bride, usually I'll dance out of the door with her because I feel so happy," says Rozhin Ahmed-Hussein.

How marriage changes people forever

“Why is it there are so many unmarried women in their thirties these days, Bridget?” – the dinner party scene in Bridget Jones’s Diary is excruciatingly familiar to anyone who has ever found themselves, alone, surrounded by a room full of married friends.

Good or bad, why are first loves so unforgettable

Either way, most people have vivid memories of their first serious relationship, Deakin University associate professor of psychology Gery Karantzas said.

"One thing that makes memories so vivid for us is the amount of emotion that is experienced during the creation of that memory," he told ABC Radio Melbourne's Ali Moore.

Is there a future for three-way weddings?

So will we see three-way marriages in the future?

"Victor tells the bad jokes," says Manuel.

"Very bad," agrees his partner Alejandro.

"I tell the smart ones," says Manuel.

Manuel José Bermúdez Andrade, Víctor Hugo Prada and Alejandro Rodríguez are all in a relationship together. They used to be four but their boyfriend Alex Esnéider Zabala died in 2014.

"The decision to marry was there before Alex died, the four of us wanted to get married," says Víctor.

"Alex's cancer changed our plans. But I never gave up."

Being married 'protects your health'

A loving spouse might spur you on to look after yourself better, they told a heart conference, based on their study of nearly a million UK adults.

What counts as 'cheating' in the digital age?

He was searching for other women online, she said. Yet Michael claimed that he hadn't done anything wrong and that he would never cheat on his wife.

When I began asking the couple more questions, it became clear that Michael had not been seeking a new partner. Instead, he'd been Googling some of his exes and looking them up on social media but hadn't reached out to them.

Rethinking monogamy today

For many couples, monogamy -- staying sexually exclusive with one partner -- is expected and assumed. It's even included in many marriage vows. But as some people are increasingly realizing, monogamy isn't for everyone.

In fact, consensual non-monogamy can be a healthy option for some couples and, executed thoughtfully, can inject relationships with some much-needed novelty and excitement.

Dating after the death of a partner

When Sophie Townsend, a widowed mother-of-two, began to navigate the trails of virtual matchmaking, she uncovered a weird world inhabited by faux feminists, shocking spellers, and a meat-loving "vegan" who refused to eat during a dinner date as he'd just devoured a banana.

A few years had passed since her husband's death when friends of the Sydney-based author and creative audio specialist, started urging her to "get back out there".

"Compared to 'out there' I kind of quite like 'in here'," she said.

Is it worth staying in a relationship for your kids

For couples with kids, it's not always that black and white.

But is staying for the children gifting them a nuclear family or a sacrifice that does more harm than good?

Relationships Australia counsellor Fiona Bennett says couples with children often try harder to save their relationship than those without.

"They can feel it's in the best interest for the children in terms of security, stability and good time with both parents," Ms Bennett says.