Women’s
increasing participation in the workforce in GCC countries and improved
education is contributing to the rise in divorce rates across the region, a
think tank has said Tuesday.
The Ideation
Center, part of global management
consultancy firm Booz & Company, said women’s increased mobility was
playing a role in more couples getting divorced.
“As a result
of their advanced education and labour market participation, many women today
have a mobility they did not have in the past and greater social, financial and
psychological independence. All of these factors combined have resulted in a
dramatic increase of divorce rates,” the think tank said in a statement.
According to statistics quoted in the statement, divorce rates in Saudi
Arabia reached 20 percent in 2008, 24 percent in Bahrain in 2007, 25.62 percent
in the UAE in 2008, 34.76 percent in Qatar in 2009 and 37.13 percent in Kuwait
in 2007.
Dr Mona
AlMunajjed, Ideation Center’s
senior advisor, said modernisation, including urbanisation was also imposing
new demands on married couples.
“Statistical
data indicates that divorce rates are almost equal to marriage rates within the
20–29 age group, reaching a ceiling in the 30–39 age group, suggesting that
young couples are more likely to divorce often in the first years of marriage,”
she said.
Women are
often more negatively affected by divorce than men, and as such governments in
the GCC are taking steps to offer them more protection, the statement said.
In Bahrain,
the UAE and Qatar
the first female judges have been appointed. Meanwhile, Saudi
Arabia, Qatar
and Kuwaiti have introduced some more financial and custody rights for women,
the company said.
“Another
emphasis may be to strengthen legal protection for women and children and
enforce the implementation of laws preserving the rights of divorced women. GCC
states should bring their national laws into conformity with their
international commitment to gender equality,” Dr AlMunajjed added.
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