A report from the Ministry of Social Affairs has revealed that its Social Guidance Unit dealt last year with 6,831 issues, with the vast majority – 5,800 – brought by women. The report, which categorizes the problems handled by the unit as “marital, psychological, family, Shariah, emotional, academic, health, economic, job-related, delinquency, and addiction”, said that Riyadh topped the list with 3,600 complaints, followed by Makkah with 922, Al-Qassim with 544, the Eastern Province with 530, Asir with 444, and Madina with 290. Regions registering under 200 complaints were Tabuk, Hail, Jizan, Al-Baha, Al-Jouf, Northern Border and, with the lowest number at 25, Najran. The group with the highest representation was the 21 to 25 age group with 1,900 complaints, followed by 10 to 20 with 278. The over-60 age group made only 13 complaints. The Social Guidance Unit provides assistance by telephone, addressing issues related to family breakups, widows, divorced women, unruly children, newly married couples, prisoners' families, families of drug addicts and school truancy.
