In the 1970s the rate was eighty-five divorces for every 100 marriages. By Islamic law as interpreted in the Maldives, the same man and woman can marry three times, after which they must marry other partners, and then they are free to marry each other another three times. An official notification limited the number maximum to three such cycles, or nine marriages for the same couple. But by giving a gift to charity even this could be relaxed, so some couples have remarried many more times than that. Traditionally there was an element of pride, even piety, in a man having had many marriages.
Some individuals claim to have had forty to eighty marriages.
Divorce is not so traumatic as in Western societies for either the partner or for their children. Most people live on tiny islands, and all the households know each other well. A man can divorce and remarry and move to a nearby household. His children are still close. They know that he is likely to remarry their mother anyway.