Saudi Courts to Notify Women of their Divorce by SMS

Saudi courts will now notify women of their divorce by SMS. According to a new law that came into effect Sunday, January 6, the courts must now warn by texting women who are no longer married by informing them of their change of marital status.

The measure approved by the Ministry of Justice aims to put an end to the widespread cases of men ending marriage secretly without informing their wives.

“Women … will be informed of any changes in their marital status by SMS,” said the Ministry of Justice in a statement broadcast by the public news channel Al-Ekhbariya and other local media.

“Women in the kingdom will be able to consult documents relating to the termination of their marriage contract on the ministry’s website,” he said.

This measure comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a liberalization campaign in this ultra-conservative country, where women face some of the most severe restrictions in the world.

In June 2018, women were allowed to drive for the first time in decades. The country also allowed women to enter the sports stadiums, which were previously reserved for men.

But alongside the reforms, the kingdom has seen a wave of arrests of activists in recent months as it intensifies the crackdown on dissent.

The country is also criticized for its male guardianship system, which allows men to exercise arbitrary authority to make decisions on behalf of their female relatives.

On Sunday, an 18-year-old Saudi woman detained at Bangkok airport said she would be killed if she was repatriated by the Thai immigration authorities.

Pleading her case on Twitter, the woman – who wanted to seek asylum in Australia – said she was trying to flee her family, which subjected her to physical and psychological abuse.

Credit: bbc