Distrust and finance key divorce reasons
dubai — Confusion, a lack of trust and money-related issues are among the main reasons people got divorced in Dubai in 2016 and 2017, reveal new statistics from Dubai Courts.
“Negligence of the other spouse, lack of dialogue and communication and absence of trust, in addition to shortcomings in spending on the wife or children, are the most common divorce and separation factors,” noted Mousa Ghanem, head of the Dubai Courts Family Reconciliation Section.
Among the prevalent financial reasons were claims for alimony, demands for the return of dowries, seeking rent or asking the husband to provide or replace accommodation, as well as requests to hire a maid or nanny.
A total of 1,383 divorce certificates were issued in 2016, with 5,779 martial files examined by Dubai Courts.
According to the statistics, the divorce rate was highest among men aged between 30 and 34 — including 176 among foreign couples, 79 among Emirati couples and 42 among mixed couples — with 297 divorce certificates issued. For women, divorce was most prevalent among the same age group, with 330 divorce certificates.
1,383 divorce certificates were issued in 2016
dubai — From grooms abandoning brides to marital disputes, the emirate’s courts are flooded with divorce cases, according to the new statistics released by Dubai Courts.
The report reveals that lack of harmony is the major reason behind the increasing problems between spouses or within the family. Another major factor for the flow of divorce cases in 2016 and 2017 is money-related which involves claims for alimony, demands to get back dowry and other expenses; seeking rent or asking the husband to provide accommodation or replace it; money to hire a maid or nanny etc.
Mousa Ghanem, head of the Family Reconciliation Section, Dubai Courts, told Khaleej Times that confusion and lack of honesty and trust are among the main obstacles that hinder their efforts to stop couples from seeking separation.
“Negligence of the other spouse, lack of dialogue and communication and absence of trust in addition to shortcomings in spending on the wife or children are the most common divorce and separation factors.”
The reasons for marital disputes are divided into several categories such as social, financial, psychological and hygienic, of which the social reasons are found to be the most compelling, leading to separation. (See graphic: most common reasons are given under each category).
Advice to couples
On what advice he has to offer couples, Ghanem resorted to verses from the Holy Quran that call on the husbands and wives to treat each other with fairness, mercy and honesty for a happy and everlasting marriage.
“Husbands and wives should treat each other exactly as they would like to be treated. Disputes happen because of ill-treatment. In many cases, we saw husbands divorce the mothers of their children because of one single bad word or because of an act which he did not approve of. Most of them would regret it later and seek to take their wives back. We saw, as well, cases in which a spouse denied and forgot years of good and respectful treatment just because of one wrong act from the other side.”
Ghanem advises any husband to be patient whenever he is irritated by any misstep taken by his wife. “Let him compare between her qualities and advantages and he will for sure find that her qualities outnumber her disadvantages by far.”
According to the statistics, the divorce rate is the highest among men aged between 30 and 34 — including 176 among foreigner couples and 79 among Emirati couples and 42 mixed couples — with 297 divorce certificates issued to them last year. When it comes to women, divorce is most common again between the ages of 30 to 34, with 330 divorce certificates.
As many as 1,383 divorce certificates were issued throughout 2016. Besides, 5,779 marital files were examined by Dubai Courts in 2016 while 2,919 such files were received up to the end of June of 2017.
There were 1,982 divorce cases over damage reasons in 2016 compared to 1,104 this year. Six cases were filed over abandonment in 2016 while two such cases were seen until the end of June in 2017.
2 cases of abandonment examined by the court this year till June
Negligence of the other spouse, lack of communication and absence of trust in addition to shortcomings in spending on the wife or children are the most common divorce and separation factors.” Mousa Ghanem, head, Family Reconciliation Section, Dubai Courts
If one of the spouses is Emirati then the UAE’s law should be applied, otherwise it is left to the couples to make up their mind.” Abdel Monem Suwaidan, lawyer, Bin Suwaidan Firm for Advocacy & Legal Consultancy