Yserbius; what strategies does a man have besides the ability to withhold a get? It might be a stronger weapon, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be used – obviously it should not be used to simply get what he wants or something he isn’t entitled to, but when a woman uses secular court to get her way, which is a very powerful tool indeed (the court can put him in jail if he refuses), why is it unfair to allow him to do so?
My main issue is with the fact that these activists believe the woman without exception; the mere fact that she has been unable to get remarried for whatever amount of years it is, is sufficient to demonize the husband. Are there mean spirited men who wish to torture their ex wives? I’m sure there are a few. It’s possible that there are a lot, but the activists do not know – all they know is that there were some rabbis somewhere who said she was right and that she’s been an agunah for 15 years, therefore the husband is wrong.
Syag – I don’t know about party lines, all I know is that the activists are employing tactics which are usually against halacha, that can potentially render a get pasul and the resulting children mamzerim. Is my assumption about peaceful resolutions wrong? Could be. It could be that there are a lot of husbands who want to take revenge on their ex wives and ruin their lives. It doesn’t change the fact that in practice these social media and protest campaigns are not acceptable. If even one of the accused men are innocent, they have done more harm than good. You are correct that I do not have halachik experience in this area, but then again, who here is a dayan? I think we all know people who were involved in divorce cases.
Benephraim…hafkaus kidushin was discontinued in the times of the rishonim. It also is not up to us to make new scenarios beyond when chazal make them, as we are only doing the shlichus of the former Sanhedrin. What you are suggesting is extremely dangerous and banned universally by the poskim.
GH – I don’t claim to be enlightened; maaseh yadehah lebaalah is a mishnah; or is the mishnah outdated to you? There is a device of aini nizones ve’aini oseh, that a woman can claim independence financially from her husband (aside from achilas leros in nishsay milug, tzon barzel etc) and keep her wages, but the default is that the husband keeps everything in exchange for his obligation to feed the wife. In these cases, the women did not make thus stipulation, so their wages go to their husbands.