Divorces Rise by 30% in Saudi Arabia: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Divorces in Saudi Arabia have risen by 30 percent in the month of February after the quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic caused many wives to discover that their husbands had other wives and families, a report said.
It was reported back in February that marriages within the kingdom had increased by five percent compared to the same month last year, with 13,000 marriages having been conducted and 542 registered online, according to the Dubai-based news site (Persian) Gulf News.
The number of divorces that month, however, was at a record 7,482, resulting in a 30 percent increase in requests for divorces and ‘khula’ – the process in which a woman can divorce her husband. Annulment is also an option for the women, particularly in cases in which they prove they were harmed by the husband.
Citing statistics from the Saudi Ministry of Justice, the report noted that 52 percent of divorce requests and cases that month were from the cities of Mecca and the capital Riyadh. It also said that the majority of women who requested divorces from their husbands were employees, businesswomen, prominent women in the community, and female doctors.
