A call for a civil status law to end the sufferings of divorcees coincides with International Women's Day today. The call by Saudi journalist Haifa Khaled is for the proposed law to be added to the new legal systems approved by Royal Decree five months ago. The Royal Decree stipulates development of judicial facilities and establishment of specialist courts, including legal status courts. Haifa has launched a website – www.saudidivorce.org – for her initiative. She said she was encouraged to take the initiative following King Abdullah's “fatherly call” for social reform that lets citizens express themselves for the progress and service of all classes of society. “I intend to inspire Shariah specialists and other experts in social and psychological matters to participate in formulating new legal concepts rooted in the Shariah, which govern the issue of divorce. The aim is to find a mechanism for the documentation of divorce – on the grounds that it is a procedure that ends marital life,” she said. She said life after divorce ought not to be left any longer to the honesty and conscience of ex-husbands, arguing that life today is such that it affects a person's sincerity and ability to preserve a divorcee's rights. Haifa is calling for a system derived from and preserving the spirit and essence of the Shariah, one that reduces the harm currently being done to divorced women and their children. In many cases a divorced woman ignores her rights emerging from divorce rules, especially her right of being notified about divorce, about Idda – the waiting period during which a divorced or widowed woman may not remarry – Nafaqa (alimony to support the divorced wife and children) and custody, housing and other privileges. She said rules have not been legitimated so far that enable divorced women to get their rights immediately upon the issuance of the divorce certificate.Consequently, divorced women end up in long legal battles to win their rights. Haifa lauded government efforts to secure marital life and preserve the rights of off-springs as manifested in pre-marital medical checkup for both couples so as to ascertain that they are free from hereditary diseases. Divorce in the Kingdom rose between 25% and 60% in the past 20 years. This has resulted in a sharp rise in Nafaqa and custody cases, and family violence. She said the statistics reflect the extent of the sufferings of a divorced woman. There are several precedents of husbands misusing the divorce right to get rid of their wives and humiliate them, she said. Haifa said the Holy Qur'an and the Prophet's Sunnah have clearly defined a divorcee's rights and made it imperative for the ruler, represented by the authorities concerned, to safeguard these rights. “This is precisely what my initiative aims at,” she said. __
