Women are admirably purposeful, determined and unwavering when it comes to taking a call on divorce, reveals a study of family court cases in the city. The study, conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), found that among the number of settled cases of divorce in the Bandra-based family court in the year 2013, 70% were those filed by women. And there were probably no afterthoughts on part of women, as 86% of these cases took no more than six months for settlement.

The study, carried out by Prof Sujata Chavan of Advanced Centre for Women's Studies, School of Development Studies, TISS, also observes that the trend was more or less the same for the last 20 years, breaking a long-held myth that women tend to drag the cases of divorce to settle a score with men. This is despite the fact that all women who file for divorce are not financially independent. This also indicates that norms of patriarchal society are becoming weaker now.

Settlement cases include mutual consent for divorce, reconciliation, maintenance, property rights, custody of children and injunction. "We have been hearing for years that women delay divorce cases on some pretext or other. This prompted us to launch this study and outcome says that is not the case," says Prof Chavan. She attributes women's holistic approach towards the relationship behind their quick decision ability.

"Women have holistic approach towards relationship as well as separation. They have got ability to understand repercussions of their actions. This makes things a lot easier in settlement of terms in divorce petitions and even in reconciliation," says Prof Chavan. Social scientists and psychiatrists see this as positive sign towards women's empowerment.

According to Dr Shubhangi Parkar, psychiatrist, KEM hospital, "This is effect of generational change in the Indian society. Women don't want to suffer anymore. Moreover, parents who earlier used to force their girls to go back to marital home against her wishes have also become more supportive now. Thankfully, legal aid is available now through government and NGOs."

On an average more than 8,400 cases, including that for maintenance, are filed annually in Mumbai family court. Researchers observed that the women and men litigants were almost equal in number in past 20 years. Almost 60% of parties belonged to age group of 25 to 35 and most of them were from service class. The study also found that while 42% couples settled for divorce by mutual consent, six percent sought restitution of conjugal rights.