A member of Saudi’s Shoura Council has caused outrage among the legislative advisory body after claiming divorcees in the kingdom are harassed and their honour compromised, it was reported.
“There are many religious people, some of whom are sheikhs, in the council who described the comment as good,” Abdulaziz Al Ataishan he was quoted by Al Watan newspaper as saying.
Several members of the Shoura, particularly female members, are said to have described the comments as discriminatory. Others registered their objection.
However, Al Ataishan said later that “these are viewpoints and should be respected”.
He added it focused on the need for a new authority that “took care of divorcees and their affairs”.
He also called for a debate on divorce as figures showed the divorce rate was now at 35 percent in Riyadh alone. There were also 900,000 so-called spinsters, he said.
“I know many divorced women who wanted to obtain jobs. The moment the employer came to know that they were divorcees, they started harassing them,” he said.
“We are a society that is like an ostrich which buries its head in the sand. We want to show people that we have no problems, and this is a mistake. Harassment is existent, not only among young women, but also with boys. So why are we kidding ourselves? We are human beings and we are not special.”
Female Shoura Council member, Thurayya Obeid, pointed out there was an authority called “Mawaddah” that took care of the affairs of divorcees.
“This means that the matter is already being taken care of, unlike what Al Ataishan claims,” she said.
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