Divorces rise by 50% from last year

JEDDAH: The number of cases related to family disputes recorded in Jeddah has increased by 50 percent over last year, on the basis of 19,243 family dispute cases for the last eight months.
A great number these cases are ‘khula’ (divorce initiated by the wife), according to a report issued by Ministry of Justice.
Arab News spoke to divorced individuals and asked them the reasons behind their divorces.
Sara Jaber, a 35-year-old divorced through khula, after marrying the brother of her dead first husband, told Arab News, “the family of my first husband, Sohail, blackmailed me into marrying his younger brother after threatening to take my son away from me.”
Jaber said that she had very little awareness about child custody laws, which left her compelled to marry the younger brother.
The divorcée went on describing her mistreatment by the younger brother, “he used to not pay any of the house expenses. He was not even at the house most of the time; I used to take money from my father to support the family.”
Jaber also added, “for these reasons and for others that I cannot publicly mention, I filed for khula, and I was divorced.”
Moreover, a 31-year-old divorced man, who wished to remain anonymous, told Arab News, “my ex-wife and I had huge problems in communicating. We did not have any common topics or the similar interests, maybe due to the difference in education levels.”
“We got married through an arranged marriage, which is common in Saudi Arabia and other places around the world. I barely knew any aspect of her personality prior to the marriage,” he said.
He also added, “we reached a point where an entire day passed by without us talking to each other, so we got divorced.”
According to the report, settlement of family dispute cases varies in alimony and child support payments, child custody, parent visitation, marital cohabitation, marginalization of the spouse and others.