5. Divorce

This entry considers the ways in which divorce disrupts women's financial capacities and resources. The discussion focuses on the precariousness divorced women experience as a result of the physical separation from their husbands and relocation from their matrimonial homes and property. With reference to relevant literature and life stories from interviews with middle-class divorced women in Nairobi, I illustrate how personal financial resources and support from social networks may mitigate some of the vulnerabilities divorced women face; but an unexpected end of the marriage and loss of access to matrimonial property may undermine the women's capacity to successfully rebuild a post-divorce life. Also highlighted is the failure of the judiciary in Kenya to safeguard women's financial well-being upon divorce, despite recently enacted legal frameworks that are expected to do so.