section_path: Law/Contemporary legal and human rights criticisms of marriage
section_name: Contemporary legal and human rights criticisms of marriage
paragraph_text: Contemporary legal and human rights criticisms of marriage
  
  People have proposed arguments against marriage for reasons that include political, philosophical and religious criticisms; concerns about the divorce rate; individual liberty and gender equality; questioning the necessity of having a personal relationship sanctioned by government or religious authorities; or the promotion of celibacy for religious or philosophical reasons. Research has found that unhappily married couples are at 3–25 times the risk of developing clinical depression.