JEDDAH: A group of women divorcees and widows in Jeddah have launched a campaign on Facebook asking the government to support polygamy as a means of tackling the rising number of Saudi ladies unable to find a husband. The Facebook page, Al-Hayat Arabic daily reported, expounds the virtues of polygamy and Islamic rulings on it, and cites statistics for unmarried women and news reports of suicides among divorcees and widows as evidence of a growing problem. Responses from both males and females on the page range from full support to opposition to the idea. One male contributor said that many men would not respond positively because they “are scared of their wives”, while one lady suggested that the issue lay not in finding a husband, but in “finding a good husband capable of assuming his responsibilities”.
