The Director General of the Marriage Officials Administration has said that the divorce rate is exaggerated by the media and methods of classifying statistics. Muhammad Al-Babtain, who is also an adviser at the Ministry of Justice, said that figures were exaggerated by the inclusion of expatriates and certain legal processes such as annulling marriages before ceremonies are complete, or types of divorce such as khul'a where women can ask for divorce. “If each case were classified in its own way then you would see the rate drop,” Al-Babtain said. “A circular has been sent to all courts requiring the classification of each divorce case into divorce, khul'a, annulment, or other legal processes.” Al-Babtain said his offices would soon be linked up with the Central Department of Statistics and Information by computer to register divorce and marriage numbers more accurately. According to Al-Babtain, the ministry is also studying restrictions on underage marriage, a “joint vision of the ministries of Justice and Health”, and that the marriage of minors is an issue on the agenda of various meetings and events planned for marriage officials, along with programs to raise their awareness of issues related to marriage, family relations, and domestic violence.
