Saudi women to get SMS on divorce

SAUDI FACES CRITICISM FOR ITS GUARDIANSHIP SYSTEM, WHICH GIVES MEN ARBITRARY AUTHORITY ON WOMEN

RIYADH : Saudi courts will notify women by text message when they get divorced, in a new regulation that took effect on Sunday, officials said.

The measure approved by the justice ministry appears aimed at curbing seemingly rampant cases of men secretly ending marriages without informing their wives. “Women... will be notified of any changes to their marital status via text message,” the justice ministry said in a statement carried by state-run Al-ekhbariya news channel and other local media.

“Women in the kingdom will be able to view documents related to the termination of their marriage contracts through the ministry’s website.” The move comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler spearheads a liberalisation drive in the conservative kingdom, which has some of the world’s toughest restrictions on women.

In June last year, women celebrated taking the wheel for the first time in decades as the kingdom overturned the world’s only ban on female motorists.

The kingdom has also allowed women to enter sports stadiums, previously a male-only arena, and is pushing for greater participation of women in the workforce as it seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy. But in tandem with the reforms, the kingdom has recently seen a wave of arrests of women activists.