RIYADH: Saudi women say they keep getting a raw deal if their husbands decide to divorce them and are often left without suitable financial support or a place to stay.
After 12 years of marriage that resulted in two children, 35-year-old Hanaa found herself homeless. Hanaa was determined to maintain a job while she was managing a house, despite her continuous disputes with her husband.
Yet, even with her SR7,000 salary, Hanaa is now homeless as her now ex-husband, who says he wants to remarry, kept the house and asked her to leave.
“My parents are dead and I have two brothers with large families as well as one sister. Where I am supposed to live?” says Hanaa.
She added that her salary was good enough for her personal expenses, plus the driver’s wage. However, she says she will not be able to find a house, let alone furnish it, for her and the children.
Hanaa had to leave her kids with the father, who said that she would be responsible for their expenses should she decide to take them.
The social insurance system generally provides around SR900 a month to women who have an income of less than SR3,000 a month. Although this amount can be increased for individual cases, divorced women are not considered.
The story of housewife Kholod is even more devastating as she found herself and six children penniless and homeless after 25 years of marriage.
Her ex-husband divorced Kholod so he could remarry. He asked her to leave as she was no longer able to nurse, which would have bought her a few extra years in the house until the children could move into their father’s custody.
“I have applied for social insurance and all I can get is SR2,566 for me and my children combined. How can we survive on this amount, and where can we find a house that shelters us?” says Kholod sobbing.
Jawaher is another example of a suffering divorcee. After her marriage broke down 10 years ago, the 50-year-old lives in a house provided by her ex-husband. However, after he moved back to her city, the ex-husband has told her to either let him back into her life or leave home and find somewhere else to live, despite only earning a modest income as a teacher.
“He is back in my life, pushing me to go back to him or leave the house” says Jawaher.
“He claims he wants to care for his children who are grown-ups now and threatens to remarry and bring his wife to live with us.”
Jawaher tried to find an alternative home by applying to banks for loans, only to discover that the monthly installments were too high for her. “I even tried to apply for housing loans through other bodies like the Real Estate Development Fund, but the waiting list is very long and the conditions are difficult to fulfill,” says Jawaher.
Human right activists and the Human Rights Commission presented a study on ways to protect women’s rights to the Cabinet, featuring testimonials from families in other Arab and Gulf countries, according to Suad Al-Shammari, a solicitor and human rights activist.
Al-Shammari said in one neighboring Gulf country, divorced women are entitled to a house, alimony, a housemaid and driver, all provided by the ex-husband.
Al-Shammari claims that it is the government’s duty to provide homes for divorced women. “It is stated in the Kingdom’s constitution that the ‘family should be protected, nourished and provided with everything to ensure its safety and security’, but this statute has not been applied,” says Al-Shammari.
Assistant Deputy of Social Insurance at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Abdullah Al-Sadhan, confirmed that divorced women with a salary exceeding SR1,700 per month cannot claim financial assistance unless they support disabled children.
He added that each case is studied separately, taking factors such as income and number of children into account, and a field study is conducted.
“The ministry has a number of other programs to provide for families, like paying for utility bills, furnishing homes, school bags” says Al-Sadhan, adding that the General Commission for Accommodation (GCA) administers financial support for homes.
A source at the GCA, on the other hand, confirmed that anyone could apply for a house through the Royal Diwan (primary executive office of the king).
Although the source indicated that the commission’s regulations and distribution mechanism are still being finalized, he confirmed that if a divorced woman’s son owns a house, she is ineligible. He also said that it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Affairs to provide homes immediately for low-income women.
A source at another loan and investment institute said that they do provide “social loans” not exceeding SR45,000 for divorced women, provided that each applicant supports two or more children.
However, the requirement for a “male” guarantor is a major obstacle, especially for housewives.
“Women are disadvantaged when it comes to divorce, and she is the sole loser as there is no one to provide for her, protect and support her if she has no family,” says Om Yusuf, a Shariah scholar and legal consultant in Riyadh.
“The main problem facing women when pursuing their God-given rights is the lack of attention given to those privileges in Shariah law, even by those who are supposed to be specialists.”
Om Yusuf stressed that it is clearly mentioned in the Qur’an that women are not to leave their homes.
“We do not need a new ‘legal system’, we need to reform the existing legal system that is derived from Shariah and reeducate judges and legal representatives.”
Even if the judges rule in favor of the woman, Al-Shammari points out that no party commits the husband to pay the alimony. “Some judges are very quick when it comes to applying the divorce the man asks for, but not so keen on applying the alimony for the woman.”
Both Al-Shammari and Om Yusuf believe that there is a great need for women lawyers and solicitors. “They understand women’s needs and suffering and could clarify what might be ambiguous for judges” says Om Yusuf.
Al-Shammari says that when calculating alimony for women, judges do not take into account critical expenses such as accommodation, transportation or other essentials.
“So when women stray, who is to blame but the system?” says Al-Shammari, stressing that there are shortcomings in the system in applying both Shariah and the Saudi constitution.
In the meantime, Hanaa, Kholod and Jawaher are still homeless, feeling insecure, as they watch the best years of their lives go to waste, while waiting for solutions that may never come.
