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Divorce issues among Malaysian Single Mothers in Kinta, Perak, Malaysia

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This article intends to discuss the experiences of separation issues and their coping during divorce among single mothers in Perak, Malaysia. The topic of the discussion should not be underestimated as the number of divorced couples keep increasing. Moreover, the divorce has had stigma surrounding the issue in Malaysian culture. Thus, this study opted qualitative approach by semi structured interview of nine single mothers who were living in the district of Kinta, Perak, Malaysia. Snowballing technique used to recruit the informants. The verbatim of the interviews were analyzed by using thematic analysis. Five themes emerged to illustrate the experiences of divorce issues among single mothers; emotional instability, financial insecurity, repression of divorce from children, dealing with the legal system and support received from family and significant others. The findings recommend the relevant authorities such as the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development providing support to enhance programs in helping single mothers especially during the process of divorce as well as after the divorce happened.
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