Local viewpoint Haya Al-Manie Al-Riyadh newspaper Many women suffer in marital relationships where divorce and not Khul'a (a separation at the insistence of the wife in which she has to return her dowry and reimburse her husband for what he provided during the duration of the marriage) is the only option. Society has no sympathy for women who seek divorce and I want to highlight both the problem of divorce and the issue of institutional rights. I know women who were forced to beg on the streets and in front of mosques in order to pay for a divorce or Khul'a. In the latter's case, a judge will not approve the Khul'a until she brings the required amount of money. The women who were forced to beg in order to collect money for a divorce reflects the shameful state of our government organizations and legal institutions, which fail to guarantee the rights of its citizens. The current system ensures the rights of all except women. As for a divorcee, she is a citizen with no rights to own a house or obtain a passport for herself. Not only this but many car dealerships do not allow a woman to buy a car under her own name. A divorcee is left to take care of her children without even the slightest chance of receiving child support from her ex-husband, something blatantly contrary to Shariah law. When judges issue verdicts, husbands are under no obligation to adhere to them. In such cases, our judges are indifferent to the plight of women and fail to force husbands to provide alimony and/or child support. When a woman wants a divorce she has to confront a volley of suggestions to be patient and is told of the countless advantages, both in this world and the hereafter, of being patient in marriage. Other times she is told to engage in special prayers in the middle of the night. Are such prayers exclusive to wives of drug addicts and abusers? There has been a media outcry highlighting the plight of women but there should also be efforts to translate words into actions in a way that guarantees, once and for all, the rights of the women in this country.
