DOHA: Many Qatari men blame the Family Law that regulates marriage and divorce for a high rate of broken marriages in their community, saying it unduly favours women and encourages them to seek divorce.
But a woman disputed the argument and said what forces some of their folks to take the extreme step is cheating by their husbands and being ignored and treated “simply as a piece of furniture”.
The Family Law, according to Abdulaziz Al Marri, is heavily tilted in favour of women and gives them several rights in the case of divorce.
“A divorced woman has the right to claim a separate home, with a maid and driver, as well as part of her former husband’s monthly pay,” said Al Marri.
“That calls for an extensive review of the provisions of the law, so women are not encouraged to seek divorce.”
The fact is that women get married at a young age and in the event of discord with their husbands, they lack the maturity to come up with an amicable solution.
They straightway think of divorce, Al Marri suggested.
Abdul Hakim Nasser, another citizen, said some women exploit the law and seek divorce to claim several privileges from their husbands.
“But this is also true that sometimes the families of spouses interfere too much in a marriage and that leads to their estrangement.”
Abdullah Mohamed said many a time a newly-married man is not able to live with his wife in a separate accommodation and that leads to misunderstandings and discords.
However, Mariam Mohamed, told local Arabic daily Al Raya that the law shouldn’t be blamed as in many cases cheating by the husband leads a marriage to break.
“And, then, many women feel ignored and some men treat their wives simply as a piece of furniture. These are also some of the major causes of divorce.
“How can a woman, who is just 25, ask for divorce without any valid reason?” she argued.
Society, according to her, should change its attitude towards marriage and not look at it as something stigmatic.
“Sometimes divorce is the only possible solution to a troubled marriage,” she said.
Lawyer Abdul Rahman Al Jefairi said many a time women file for divorce and demand their rights but do not attend court proceedings just to harass their husbands.
According to lawyer, Yusuf Al Zaman, some of the factors for the high rate of divorce include men and women investing more time in social media than home, and marriage expenses being very high.
“Often, there is hardly any compatibility between men and women and that becomes a reason for marital discord and divorce,” he said.
The ؛eninsula
