Shoura urged to enhance rights of divorced women

Female-related issues are gaining an increasing level of importance within Saudi society. Indeed, women’s issues have seemingly become one of the top priorities of the Shoura Council, the advisory body for new laws concerning females, after it recently formed one fifth of the current council. The Shoura Council has discussed many female issues over the years, including divorce, and has contributed to applying many laws that maintain the dignity and rights of women. Nonetheless, new problems and issues require new modes of action. Dr. Eissa Al-Ghaith, a member of the Shoura Council, Arab investment court judge and professor of comparative jurisprudence, called for creating a law to “codify divorce” so as to prevent husbands from abusing women’s rights. He said a time period should be allowed to document divorce contracts and that those who delay documentation should be fined. He told Al-Iqtisadiyah that women suffer due to delayed divorce documentation. Many husbands hide their divorce to manipulate the law and evade alimony, so it is important to complete the documentation process within a defined time period. In fact, divorce documentation should be placed on equal footing to registering births and documenting marriages and those who fail to document their divorce should be fined, he said. “Codifying divorce, which will be suggested to the Shoura Council, stresses the importance of direct documentation; the wife should be notified and given a copy of the divorce document. What is happening now makes it easy to manipulate the issue, yet Islam does not condone such conduct,” Al-Ghaith said. He said procedures to protect divorced women should be implemented quickly, especially since many women have been divorced for years without being notified. Such loopholes are being created by men to evade alimony. Shoura Council members approved the procedures stipulated by the Ministry of Justice, which said women should have an original copy of their marriage document. “This is one of the many rights enjoyed by women because it is a proof of her marriage. Women need to have a copy of the marriage contract in their possession in light of the problems we encounter nowadays. Women can use this document at various government departments,” Al-Ghaith commented. Women have the right to keep a copy of the “family book,” which states who her husband and children are. The law guaranteed her this right when the issue achieved the highest number of votes in the council. The decision has since been approved and is awaiting response from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. Source: Arab News