Around 60 percent of divorce in the Kingdom usually occur in the first year of marriage, according to a recent study conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs. The study also revealed that approximately 80 percent of children kept at juvenile detention centers for crimes were the victims of divorces and family disputes. The study also revealed that four out of five women require that their future husbands should be religious. The divorce rate in the last couple of decades has increased from 19 to 31 percent, said the study. Saudi writer and social analyst Suzan Al-Mashhadi attributes the main reason for divorce to the unnecessary intervention of the families of brides and grooms. Other major reasons for divorce are cultural mismatch and financial imbalance. Al-Mashhadi referred to recent Ministry of Justice data which showed that the number of divorces has reached 18,765 out of a total of 90,983 marriages. “These numbers cannot be overlooked and we ought to put an end to this social curse,” she said. According to government figures, the number of divorced women reached one million in 2007 while the number of married women totaled 2,683,574, Al-Mashhadi said. Statistics also revealed that the highest rate of divorce was registered in Makkah, where 60 percent of marriages end in divorce. Iftikhar Aal Dahnim, a Saudi sociologist, writer and novelist, suggested that there was a need for premarital awareness and planning. She also said that prospective partners must know more about each other before deciding to marry. Al-Mawada Charitable Society in Makkah offers premarital training courses and also offers counseling for married couples. __
