Rise in breakups and divorce in Lebanon mirrors socio-economic changes across the Arab world

Special Economic pressures, evolving social attitudes and the changing role of women is fueling divorce rates in Lebanon. (AFP)
Economic pressures, evolving social attitudes and the changing role of women is fueling divorce rates in Lebanon. (AFP)
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Updated 11 September 2022

Rise in breakups and divorce in Lebanon mirrors socio-economic changes across the Arab world

Rise in breakups and divorce in Lebanon mirrors socio-economic changes across the Arab world
  • Economic pressures, evolving social attitudes and the changing role of women are all taking their toll
  • Recent study shows Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar are the Arab countries with the highest divorce rates

BEIRUT: As globalization transforms most aspects of modern life, the nature of family and family life is no longer what it was even 10 years ago. The usual stresses and strains on marriage have been compounded by the growing trend of people moving away from their families and countries of origin in search of a livelihood.

That the Arab world is not insulated from these profound socio-economic changes is evident from the rise in the number of couples choosing to separate in several Middle Eastern and North African countries.

A recent study by the Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center found that Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar are the Arab countries with the highest divorce rates.

In Kuwait, 48 percent of all marriages end in divorce, 40 percent in Egypt, 37.2 percent in Jordan, 37 percent in Qatar, and 34 percent in both the UAE and Lebanon.

“On some days, we have up to 16 divorce cases in this court alone,” Sheikh Wassim Yousef Al-Falah, a Shariah judge at Beirut’s religious court, told Arab News.




Newlywed couples pose for a picture at the Roman acropolis in Baalbeck in the Bekaa valley. (AFP/File Photo)

“The increasing divorce rate is a phenomenon that we have not seen before, although we do not favor divorce and focus on reconciliation.”

Experts believe this trend has been driven by a combination of economic pressures, evolving societal norms, legal reforms and, above all, the changing role of women.

“Women no longer feel that they need men,” said Al-Falah. “Many wives have stood before my court, rejecting any settlement with their men because they feel that they are capable of being independent and do not want men to control their lives.”

Through much of history, especially among the more conservative cultures of the Arab world, a woman’s place was long considered to be in the home, handling the needs of the family, while male relatives studied and went to work.

Now, as Arab nations modernize their economies and reform their legal systems, women are becoming more independent, increasingly pursuing higher education, progressing in their careers, and choosing to marry and have children later in life.

As a result, Arab women have developed a keener awareness of their civil rights, personal ambitions and self-respect. They increasingly refuse to tolerate domestic violence and are capable of supporting themselves financially.




As Arab nations modernize their economies and reform their legal systems, women are becoming more independent. (AFP/File Photo)

“In the past, women used to hesitate before taking the decision to ask for a divorce, keeping in mind that this option is not available within all of Lebanon’s sects and is hard to reach within some sects,” Manal Nahas, a researcher whose postgraduate diploma focused on the issue of divorce in Lebanon, told Arab News.

“However, the current statistics compiled by the religious courts that handle the personal status of Lebanese citizens and foreigners residing in Lebanon reflect an increase in divorce requests, especially those submitted by women.”

The rise is viewed as a byproduct of wider changes in social attitudes.

“This generation of women look at divorce differently,” said Nahas. “Women are no longer obliged to tolerate abuse like their mothers and grandmothers used to.

“Today’s women are educated, they work and they occupy high positions in their areas of work. There is now equality between men and women. The average age of marriage for women in the decades after the war was 24 years old, and today it has risen to 32 years as a result of social progressiveness, economic conditions and women’s participation in the labor market.”

Nahas added: “In addition, women are cherished in their parents’ home before they get married. Therefore, getting a divorce is easier for them than continuing to live in an unbearable marriage. Divorce in Lebanese society is no longer considered a stigma.




Lebanese women take part in a protest in front of Lebanon's Supreme Shiite Council to ask clerics to increase the age at which custody of children for divorced Shiite Muslim couples can be awarded to the mother, in the capital Beirut. (AFP/File Photo)

“Most parents now re-embrace their divorced daughter instead of rejecting her. There has been a societal change. Almost everyone experiences divorce, as this is no longer considered a hard decision to take.”

In Lebanon, where a large segment of the population has moved abroad to find jobs with better salaries, the difficulty of maintaining a long-distance relationship also appears to play a part in marriage breakdown.

“My husband has been working in Africa for many years and I live with my children in Lebanon,” Neemat, 34, told Arab News at the religious court in Beirut, where she was seeking a divorce.

“We decided to separate in a friendly way after our life together became unbearable. He will be covering the child support and has fully paid his dues to me through the deferred marital payment.”

Al-Falah said this kind of relationship breakdown is common.

“The most unsuccessful marriages are those in which the husband migrates abroad to work and the wife remains in Lebanon,” he said. “When the spouses meet up, they discover that they are unable to live with each other. Such marriages do not last in general.

“However, if this marriage produces children, we try to repair the relationship between them because we do not want to harm the children.”




Family values are cherished in Arab culture, and authorities — both religious and secular — tend to prefer that parents stay together for the sake of their children. (AFP/File Photo)

Not all divorce proceedings are as amicable as Neemat’s, however. Al-Falah said he has handled several extremely acrimonious marital disputes.

“I have started receiving couples in my office where the wife or the husband was subjected to domestic violence at the hands of their spouse, although domestic violence targeting women is more common,” he said.

“The further we go from the city, the more domestic violence becomes one of the reasons for divorce, especially in remote areas. We do not try to repair this type of marriage because we do not want to partner in a crime.”

Reforms to the legal status of women in Lebanon have drawn particular attention in recent years, with the introduction of a slew of legislation designed to protect them from sexual harassment and domestic abuse. However, human rights monitors say the reforms do not go far enough.

In December 2020, for example, the Lebanese parliament passed a law that criminalized sexual harassment and outlined measures to protect whistleblowers, but failed to meet international standards for tackling harassment at work through labor laws.

Parliament also amended a domestic violence law to expand its scope to include violence related to — but not necessarily committed during — marriage, enabling women to seek protection from their ex-husbands. However, it did not criminalize marital rape.

Lebanon’s 2019 financial collapse and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic appear to have piled further pressure on relationships as living standards plummeted, people lost their jobs and households were forced into long periods of constant close proximity under lockdown.

“After the quarantine caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we witnessed an increase in divorce requests,” said Al-Falah. “Some couples discovered that they could not tolerate each other and the rift between them became apparent.

“The rate of divorce requests increased after the economic crisis intensified; husbands stopped working, the banks stopped cashing out deposits, and soft housing loans were no longer given out.

“We are witnessing cases of divorce requests for couples who have lived together for 13 or 20 years, which was not the case before. We can say that divorce rates increased by 35 to 40 percent in Beirut’s religious court during this year.”




Each religion chooses the rights that suit its program, so wide recognition of women's equality is difficult, says Claudine Aoun, president of the National Commission for Lebanese Women. (Supplied)

Several countries around the world reported spikes in domestic violence during the pandemic and Lebanon is no exception. The nation’s economic woes and disruption to court procedures during the health crisis appear to be making matters worse.

KAFA, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization established in 2005 to campaign against domestic abuse, recently warned of “the dangerous repercussions of the institutional collapse in Lebanon of social and family security.”

“The suspension of the judges’ services in Lebanon will have a negative impact on women and children suffering from domestic violence,” it said.

The organization highlighted “the exacerbation of domestic violence and the increasing rates of violent incidents targeting women, which have led to the killing of three women in a single week.”

The figures for divorce in Lebanon might be somewhat skewed by the growing use of marriage as a means of gaining citizenship in another country, as waves of young people move abroad in search of better opportunities.

“There is a divorce for those whose marriage was based on convenience,” said Al-Falah. “For example, husbands who move abroad and want to marry a foreign woman must prove that they are not married back home for them to marry and then obtain the nationality of their new wife’s country.

“After obtaining the new nationality, they remarry their original wife, whom they divorced back in their home country.”




In Lebanon, where a large segment of the population has moved abroad to find jobs with better salaries, the difficulty of maintaining a long-distance relationships also appears to play a part in marriage breakdown. (AFP/File Photo)

Lebanon is a multi-confessional country. Following the 1975-1990 civil war, the nation’s religious communities agreed to share power through a complex division of authorities and separate institutions governing community matters, including marriage and divorce.

Lebanese citizens will often move between sects to facilitate a divorce. Couples from the Maronite sect, for instance, the courts of which forbid the annulment of marriage in all but the most extreme circumstances, might turn instead to the Catholic or Orthodox sects, which allow the annulment of marriages.

They might even turn to the Sunni sect to access divorce procedures before converting back to their original sect. According to Shariah, divorce — known as khula — has been permitted since the time of Prophet Muhammad.

Obtaining a divorce in a Sunni religious court is considered easier than in a Shiite religious court, after these courts developed new rules that raised the age for child custody, amended the dowry and banned underage marriage.

Civil society groups have called for an optional civil personal-status law in Lebanon. Currently, many young Lebanese from all sects travel to Cyprus or Turkey for civil marriages. The civil courts in Lebanon agree to register such marriages but religious authorities continue to reject them.

Family values are cherished in Arab culture, and authorities — both religious and secular — tend to prefer that parents stay together for the sake of their children. Experts believe marriage counseling, better education for young couples, more open discussions about relationships, and even a relaxation of the social taboos surrounding premarital social interaction between men and women could help reduce overall divorce rates.

Al-Falah said many divorces are “a result of disputes caused by the fact that the marriage was not built on solid foundations. The rate of this type of divorce is high because the education that young people receive does not include proper decision-making or family guidance.”

 


Houthis abduct 17 Baha’is in Sanaa raid: HRW

Houthis abduct 17 Baha’is in Sanaa raid: HRW
Updated 18 sec ago

Houthis abduct 17 Baha’is in Sanaa raid: HRW

Houthis abduct 17 Baha’is in Sanaa raid: HRW
  • Human Rights Watch: ‘The Houthis have systematically violated the rights of minorities in Yemen’
  • UN expert: Militia engaging in ‘persistent pattern of persecution’ of Baha’is

LONDON: Yemen’s Houthi militia detained and disappeared 17 people belonging to the Baha’i faith in the capital Sanaa on May 25, Human Rights Watch reported.

The religious minority has faced significant persecution under Houthi rule, with the Baha’i International Community, the faith’s world body, saying its members were deliberately targeted in the raid.

The abductions took place during an annual meeting by Yemeni Baha’is to elect members to their national body.

The 17 people were joined by other attendees via Zoom, one of whom described the incident to HRW based on footage he witnessed and recorded in the video call.

About 15 minutes into the meeting, he said, a loud bang, which “sounded like a door being knocked in,” shook the room.

The attendees “looked frightened and stood up,” and were then met by four armed Houthis who had entered the room and forced everyone to sit.

“I heard screaming and crying voices in the background. I saw their faces … They were shocked and some of them automatically raised their hands,” he said.

One of the Houthis then closed the laptop in the room, ending the footage of the event. The Baha’i International Community said all 17 people present in the meeting were detained and transported away, with Houthi authorities refusing to respond to requests for information on their whereabouts.

Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at HRW, said: “Houthi authorities’ flagrant targeting of Baha’i solely on the basis of their religious beliefs is a clear violation of their human rights.

“They (the Houthis) should immediately reveal the condition and whereabouts of the detained Baha’i, release everyone detained solely for the peaceful religious practice, and respect the rights of all Yemenis to freedom of expression and belief.”

Ahmed Shaheed, the UN expert on freedom of religion, previously warned that the Houthis were engaging in a “persistent pattern of persecution” of Baha’is.

He noted that Abdel Malik Al-Houthi, the militia’s leader, had referred to Baha’is as “infidels” and “urged Yemenis to defend their country from the Baha’is and members of other religious minorities,” in a 2018 speech.

The raid on May 25 was the latest in a series of targeted attacks against Baha’is in Houthi-controlled areas across Yemen, HRW said.

In 2016, the militia raided a conference hosted by the faith in Sanaa and arrested more than 60 people.

Two years later, at least 22 Baha’is were charged with espionage and apostasy in a Houthi court, with the cases still remaining active.

The Baha’i member who spoke to HRW about the latest raid said many Yemenis of his faith were “forced to relocate to new houses, sometimes to new cities,” and that they have been forced to “keep a low profile.”

Jafarnia said: “The Houthis have systematically violated the rights of minorities in Yemen and show no sign of letting up on the pressure.

“The international community should stand in solidarity with the Baha’i community and exert pressure on the Houthi authorities to release the detained people immediately.”


Blast at Palestinian base in Lebanon kills five: security source

Blast at Palestinian base in Lebanon kills five: security source
Updated 31 May 2023

Blast at Palestinian base in Lebanon kills five: security source

Blast at Palestinian base in Lebanon kills five: security source
  • Palestinian group accused accused Israel of carrying out “overnight raids” at the base in Qusaya
  • Israel denied any involvement

BEIRUT: Five fighters from a pro-Syrian Palestinian militant group were killed in an accidental explosion at a base in eastern Lebanon, a Lebanese security source said Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) instead accused Israel of carrying out “overnight raids” at the base in Qusaya, near the Syrian border. Israel denied any involvement.
“An old rocket exploded in an arms depot on the base and five fighters were killed,” the security source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The Damascus-based group has close ties with the Syrian government and its main Lebanese ally Hezbollah, and has bases in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.
PFLP-GC spokesman Anwar Raja said Israel had carried out “overnight raids” on the base.
“Five fighters were killed,” he told AFP, adding that “for now we do not have more detailed information on the operation.”
The Israeli military, however, denied any involvement in the deadly blast.
“This is not IDF (Israeli army) activity,” a spokeswoman told AFP.
In August 2019, suspected Israeli strikes targeted the PFLP-GC in Qusaya.
In July 2015, a security official said a blast at a PFLP-GC base in Qusaya wounded seven people, while the Palestinian group blamed it on an Israeli strike.


Sudanese army suspends talks over cease-fire — diplomatic source

Sudanese army suspends talks over cease-fire — diplomatic source
Updated 31 May 2023

Sudanese army suspends talks over cease-fire — diplomatic source

Sudanese army suspends talks over cease-fire — diplomatic source

DUBAI: Sudan’s army has suspended talks over a cease-fire and enabling humanitarian access, according to a Sudanese diplomatic source, raising fears of fresh bloodshed.
The talks with the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began in early May and had produced a declaration of commitments to protecting civilians and two short-term cease-fire deals that had been repeatedly violated.
The army and the RSF had agreed to extend a week-long cease-fire deal by five days just before it was due to expire late on Monday.
The truce was brokered and is being remotely monitored by Saudi Arabia and the United States, which say it has been violated by both sides but has still allowed for the delivery of aid to an estimated 2 million people.
The war has forced nearly 1.4 million people to flee their homes, including more than 350,000 that have crossed into neighboring countries.
Areas of the capital have been hit by widespread looting and frequent cuts to power and water supplies. Most hospitals have been put out of service.
The United Nations, some aid agencies, embassies and parts of Sudan’s central government have moved operations to Port Sudan, in Sudan’s Red Sea state, the main shipping hub which has seen little unrest.
Leaders of the army and the RSF had held the top positions on Sudan’s ruling council since former leader Omar Al-Bashir was toppled during a popular uprising in 2019. They staged a coup in 2021 as they were due to hand leadership of the council to civilians, before falling out over the chain of command and restructuring of the RSF under the planned transition.


UN says new dynamic on Syria could create ‘much-needed momentum’ for progress

UN says new dynamic on Syria could create ‘much-needed momentum’ for progress
Updated 31 May 2023

UN says new dynamic on Syria could create ‘much-needed momentum’ for progress

UN says new dynamic on Syria could create ‘much-needed momentum’ for progress
  • Real action must now match recent diplomacy, urges envoy Geir Pedersen
  • Safe return of refugees and fate of missing, detainees remain critical issues

NEW YORK: The recent diplomatic moves on Syria need to be matched with real action, the UN special envoy for Syria told a Security Council meeting on Tuesday.

Geir Pedersen said the Syrian people continue to suffer “on a massive scale,” and “while they have observed recent diplomatic developments, they have not yet seen any improvement in the reality of their lives, whether they live inside Syria or outside Syria.”

Only “confidence building (measures) on the ground” and the resumption of the political process to end the war would signal that “the current opportunity has been seized.”

Pedersen welcomed the recent dialogues with the Syrian government that took place in Amman, Jeddah and Moscow, which focused on several key issues. These include the humanitarian situation and safe access for aid delivery, a dignified and voluntary return of refugees, reconstruction, restoring Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and countering terrorist groups.

He said these were all concerns at the heart of UN Resolution 2254 and “common attention to these themes and points could present a real opportunity to move forward.”

If such issues begin to be addressed, even if incrementally, Pedersen said this new dynamic could create a “much-needed momentum.”

He said he “can only welcome” the recent intensified regional consultations and work in the direction of finding ways in which to unblock progress on Syria.

“After all, even minimal progress on some issues of resolution 2254 would require the confidence and resources of many different players and serious actions too.”

This month has seen the Arab League officially welcome Syria’s government back into its fold. This ended over a decade of exile from the pan-Arab body over President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on protests which spiraled into a war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

Pedersen said that he reiterated, during his engagements with Syrian, regional and international interlocutors, his appreciation of “the dangers of the status quo, both for the Syrian people and for regional and other actors, who want to curb instability emanating across Syrian borders, including from narcotics, and who continue to host millions of Syrian refugees.”

In order for there to be real confidence building and a serious resumption of the political process, however, Pedersen emphasized the importance of work toward a safe and dignified return of Syrian refugees, that takes into account their security and economic fears.

Attention to this issue is important “because it tells us that if the Syrian government were to start to address in a more systematic manner the protection concerns of the displaced, working closely with the United Nations, and if donors were to help the United Nations to do more to address the concerns all Syrians have about livelihoods, then this could help to do what we all say we want to do — build confidence, and begin to change realities on the ground for all Syrians — not only the displaced.

“It could help bring about movement towards a more safe, calm and neutral environment in Syria, and it could help alleviate hardship inside the country.”

The UN envoy also emphasized that addressing the fate of over 130,000 missing people and detainees in Syria’s prisons remains a “core issue for moving forward in Syria.”

“It is hard to see how there could be genuine confidence-building without some progress on this issue, which impacts nearly all Syrians and is fundamental to families, communities, and repairing Syria’s social fabric.”

He urged countries to support the UN’s efforts toward the establishment of an institution dedicated to the search for missing Syrians.

Ghada Eltahir Mudawi, deputy director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told the Security Council that Syria must remain a “global priority.”

Over 70 percent of Syria’s population is now in need of humanitarian assistance. For the first time in the history of the conflict, 15.3 million people, across every sub-district in Syria, are experiencing some degree of humanitarian stress, Mudawi said.

The twin earthquakes earlier this year have added to this dire humanitarian situation, displacing more than 330,000 people and leaving thousands more without access to basic services and livelihoods.

She called for greater solidarity and urged countries to increase humanitarian funding, adding that while efforts are ongoing to reach a political solution “we must ensure that the urgent needs of women, men and children of Syria — life-saving aid and early recovery — are prioritized and adequately resourced.”

“They are counting on your support to stay the course,” she told council members.


UAE left Combined Maritime Forces two months ago, foreign affairs ministry says

UAE left Combined Maritime Forces two months ago, foreign affairs ministry says
Updated 31 May 2023

UAE left Combined Maritime Forces two months ago, foreign affairs ministry says

UAE left Combined Maritime Forces two months ago, foreign affairs ministry says

DUBAI: The UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) says the country is committed to peaceful dialogue and diplomatic engagement as a means of advancing the shared goals of regional security and stability, state news agency WAM reported on Wednesday.

The statement came as the ministry revealed it had withdrawn its participation in the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF).

“As a result of our ongoing evaluation of effective security cooperation with all partners, two months ago, the UAE withdrew its participation in the Combined Maritime Forces,” the statement explained.

According to the CMF website, the organization is a “multinational maritime partnership which exists to uphold the Rules-Based International Order (RBIO) by countering illicit non-state actors on the high seas and promoting security, stability, and prosperity across international waters.”

The UAE’s MoFA statement concluded that the UAE remained committed to responsibly ensuring the safety of navigation in its seas, in accordance with international law.

 

Joint land exercises have been taking place between the UAE and US. (WAM)

The news of the UAE’s withdrawal broke as its military took part in join exercises with the US, dubbed ‘Iron Union 19.’

The joint exercise, staged in the UAE, featured military scenarios aimed at strengthening joint coordination and to build combat readiness, as well as tactical proficiency.