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- Divorce rate rising in the Arab world, study finds
Divorce rate rising in the Arab world, study finds
'Women now are independent. They are educated, they have some power, they have some demands'
According to recent studies, the number of divorces increased significantly in the Arab world in recent years.
A study by the Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center found that the four countries in the Arab world with the highest divorce rates were Kuwait at 48 percent, Egypt at 40 percent, and Jordan and Qatar at 37 percent.
Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates followed at 34 percent, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Dr. Mona Youssri, a psychologist and family therapist in Dubai, told The Media Line that in her experience, most people seeking out couples therapy were females who sometimes managed to convince their male partners to join them.
“Arab females have gained a lot of self-awareness and are thriving toward their self-actualization, so sometimes this clashes with the Arab image of the woman being a homemaker,” Youssri said.
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Mahmood al-Oraibi, an attorney in Bahrain who deals with many family and divorce-related cases, said that many aspects of the Arab community are different, and divorce is just one of them.
“Women now are independent. They are educated, they have some power, they have some demands,” he told The Media Line.
Al-Oraibi added that the Arab world is still juggling the past – when women were just housewives and exclusively attended to the needs of the family – and the present, where women are more independent.
In Kuwait, Egyptian sociologist Bassant Ossama believes that divorce is increasing due to women more recently having the freedom to speak their minds and make their own choices.
“Women are educated now and have their own careers, so when they decide to get a divorce, they will not have financial worries since they can now support themselves,” she said.