Why would some Jewish men refuse to give their wives a Get?

Answer 1

For the answer below, note that the word "Agunah" refers to a woman who is bound to her husband because of her inability to get a "Get". A "Get" is a bill of divorce in Jewish law.

There is a general problem in some religious Jewish circles concerning Agunahs. Now, the need to get a Get is waived if the husband is known to be dead. However, if the woman only believes that the husband is dead, it is hard for her to have the Get waived because it is still possible that he lives. This was a big issue post-Holocaust when many Agunahs did not know for certain whether or not her husband had been murdered by the Nazis.

In terms of men that an Agunah can find and request a Get, there are two main categories of "refusal". One is when the husband is in some way debilitated and unable to provide the Get, i.e. he is in a coma. However, abandoning a husband because of a medical condition is very poor form and many Rabbis will not cerify a waiver of a Get in those cases, creating a de facto refusal from the husband. The other is when the husband is just spiteful. Jews, like all humans, are imperfect and some Jewish men want to burn the women in their lives. In some circumstances, an Agunah can bring a spiteful husband to a Beit Din or Jewish Court for the judge to compel the husband to provide a Get and allow the Agunah to remarry.