A study of the marriage laws of the world has also brought the happy conviction that the wholesome view of marriage as the union of one man and one woman for life, to the exclusion of all others, is the one triumphant fact of human history which can never lose its prestige. The surest sign of the general betterment of the world’s law is that woman everywhere is more and more being allowed her natural place in the community as man’s equal and associate. That nation is most enlightened which treats its womankind the best. All the legislation of the past century bearing on the subject of marriage has elevated men by giving more justice to women. When the next Matrimonial Causes Act predicated upon the labours of the present Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce is passed by the British Parliament, women will be given equal rights with men in our courts of law. The jurisprudence of England was not built for a day, and we are a people singularly bound by precedent, but when John Bull moves it is always in a straight line, and he never turns back. Marriage is the oldest and most universal of all human institutions.

Harsita Sanyal is a Cultural Anthropologist with a passion for research methodology and women's empowerment and a deep appreciation for cultural diversity and individual human uniqueness. Graduated in Leiden, the Netherlands, she has lived in Ghana, India and Brazil and since 1990 she has lived in South Africa. Sanyal works as an independent international research and process facilitation consultant. In her research she focuses on emancipatory approaches that envision a sustainable, just and loving world; in her research training on bringing out the genius in every participant; in her facilitation work, on gender awareness and authentic collaboration.