Posts Tagged ‘Colombian Family’

Family

The family is, as it is with almost all of Latin America, a very important institution to Colombians as imprinted by the traditional Roman Catholic Church tradition. Members of the extended family are close and children hardly ever move far away from their parents. There is a deep sense of familial responsibility that stretches through many generations.

By tradition, men were more often than not the head of the household, in charge of earning most of the family’s income while women were in charge for cooking, housework and raising children. On the other hand, as in most cultures around the world, the dawn of the 20th century brought forth a great empowerment for women who were given a right to vote during the 1950s rule of dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. The Constitution of 1991 gave a greater opportunity for women and today the majority of families (regardless of economic class) have two working parents due to the need of an income to sustain a family.

Divorce

At a child’s baptism, the parents of the child will choose godparents, padrinos. A child’s padrinos will play an important role in his life, giving advice, and when needed, financial support.

Before 1974 marriage was solely performed by the Roman Catholic Church and other religious groups until the government of Alfonso Lopez Michelsen (1974-1978) permitted the civil marriage that could only be ended after a legal divorce. It was only after the Colombian Constitution of 1991 that Colombian lawmakers admitted divorces for marriages performed by the Catholic Church.

On June 9, 2005 the Colombian congress permitted the Express Divorce law in an attempt to get rid of paperwork and waits. These previously took an average of 6 weeks, a judge and lawyers, with the new law the two parties had to only agree against a notary public without the need of a lawyer. According to a study by the Universidad Externado divorce in Colombia has been continuously increasing since the 1950s.